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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26422756">Path to the Stars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llyarden/pseuds/Llyarden'>Llyarden</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Divine Star [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters: HeartGold &amp; SoulSilver | Pokemon HeartGold &amp; SoulSilver Versions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Nuzlocke Challenge, Pokemon HeartGold</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:48:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>43,480</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26422756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llyarden/pseuds/Llyarden</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which an eighteen-year-old from Earth finds himself transported to a different, magical and dangerous world.  Based on a Nuzlocke run of Pokemon HeartGold.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Divine Star [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918228</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So...hey, I guess.</p><p>"This feels really weird to be doing, just throwing my powers out across Tojo and beyond and hoping you can hear me.  But I know you're there.  I know I heard you that day.  My big brother, always looking out for me.</p><p>"Maybe you already know everything that's happened to me.  But...I don't know, maybe the longer I keep this up the more likely you'll hear me, and I don't have a hell of a lot else to talk about.</p><p>"It's a year today since I arrived here.  For once I know how long it's been - the old Commander of the palace guard, Bruno, kept a journal about everything that happened that was relevant to the safety of the royals.  Surprise, surprise, a random teenager being dragged from another world and dumped in a bush qualified.</p><p>"I guess maybe that's why I'm trying this now.  Like there's some...astrological significance or some shit that will make it easier for me to find you.</p><p>"It still sounds pretty ridiculous, even now, like it isn't real.  There are only a couple of people that I've even bothered telling that I come from another world, and only one who I'm sure believes me.</p><p>"I've changed a lot since then, though.  I'm Blessed now - or maybe I was Blessed from the minute I was brought here.</p><p>"Blessed.  It still seems so strange, even after everything.  Divine beings exist, and they reach out and turn random people into demigods with the strength of a hundred ordinary people.  What makes it seem so much stranger is that they chose...me.</p><p>"<i>You</i> I wouldn't have been surprised by.  But me?  I was an asshole when I was brought here.  I'd like to think I've grown up since then, but...I don't know.  I think it's more that I envied Carlei so much when I first arrived I started imitating her.  I guess to some extent I still do.  Maybe the Divines knew she'd be a good influence on me, and that's why they gave me these powers.  I have to hope that's true.  I don't want to think I could've been able to do all this without someone to rein me in.</p><p>"Carlei...I could spend hours telling you how amazing she is, but I think you'd get bored.  She's a Fire Aspect Blessed, and people are saying she's the strongest Fire Aspect in Joto - and they aren't just saying that because she's the Queen now.  She really is.  And she's so kind and good.  And I still can't believe that she fell in love with me - <i>proposed</i> to me.</p><p>"Sometimes I just wake up in the middle of the night and I can't stop smiling.</p><p>"Officially we aren't married, yet.  Joto does weddings backwards - the marriage ceremony is held privately, and then there's a more public ceremony to formally confirm the wedding.  And, of course, because Carlei's the Queen, the public ceremony has to be stupidly extravagant for it to be ratified by the court.  But as far as the two of us and anyone who matters are concerned, we were married today, by the High Priest of the Faith.  I have no idea what the High Priest was actually doing here, but neither of us were about to complain since he's the only one allowed to conduct a marriage ceremony for royalty, and priests showing up randomly for no good reason is pretty standard.</p><p>"It's kind of odd, feeling like being married to Carlei is such a big deal.  We were a couple for ages, and I never really cared about Catholicism no matter how much Mom and Dad tried to push it on me, same as you.  But I guess I took in enough that being able to say that I'm her husband feels like the best thing in the world to say.</p><p>"Uh, sorry.  I should probably tell you about more than just my relationship, I guess.</p><p>"Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere you'll know that Lance, the former King of Joto, was overthrown.  Silver killed him, when he was about to kill Carlei, and I don't think he's forgiven us for forcing him to kill his father.  I can't blame him.  He was loyal to Lance for so long, whether or not he tried to convince himself that he was trying to capture Carlei and the rest of us for her sake, to stop the other people hunting us from killing her.  If not for Goban I think he'd have abandoned his royal name entirely and just left.</p><p>"Everyone thinks it was just Carlei and Silver that were responsible, but there were so many more people involved than that.  Not just me, either.  Gaius, an Imperial Guard who was cast aside for trying to expose corruption in the military, Goban, Silver's second-in-command - and boyfriend - who stayed in the Imperial Guard to try to improve it from within after Gaius was thrown out, Magni, a former gladiator, Deanne and Ampharal, nobles from two of the Great Houses of Joto, Emrys, a Paladin of the Faith, Merle, a pilgrim, Zane, who's one of Silver's advisors, and Silas and Shukie - Silver's squires, technically.</p><p>"And...and Lyra.</p><p>"It's still hard not to cry when I think about her.  She was Carlei's childhood friend, and the first person to treat me like a <i>person</i> after I arrived here.  She was forced to flee the palace after Carlei saved me from being executed, to avoid being used as a hostage, and eventually she found us again.  It turned out she was a Champion of the Divines, with all the incredible power that came with that gift, and I taught her to fight and use her power.  She was the most powerful Blessed in Joto, by far.  Maybe the most powerful in the world.</p><p>"And she died, saving us from Lance.  And no-one cares.</p><p>"I don't mind that people don't know I had a part in bringing Lance down.  But for her to just be relegated to a footnote <i>hurts</i>.  It's not fair.</p><p>"And...and it isn't just her we've lost.  Bradon, Shayne, Haneka...all friends of ours who were killed fighting alongside us.  And even people we don't know.  There was a girl, probably no more than sixteen, who tried to save Haneka even though she'd never met her before, and the bastard that killed Haneka cut her down without even blinking.  We never even knew her name.</p><p>"Sometimes I wish that all this wasn't real.</p><p>"But it is.  I'm here.  And I know you're here too, somewhere.  So...if you can hear me, I guess, come to the palace in Sekiei.  It'd be nice to catch up after...after everything.</p><p>"See you around, Jake."</p><p>Carlei waits until I'm finished talking to slip her arms around me and rest her head on my shoulder.  "Sorry if I woke you," I murmur.</p><p>She kisses me on the cheek.  She doesn't pretend I didn't, but she doesn't pretend she's upset either.  "Is it really a year since you arrived?"</p><p>"Feels longer, doesn't it?"</p><p>"I wish it had been."</p><p>This is the first night we've been 'officially' allowed to sleep together.  The stern, disapproving looks of the courtiers who know exactly what we're up to have in no way stopped us sneaking over to each others' rooms every night anyway for the past month, but it's nice to be able to just relax and be together without fear of it resulting in snooty looks.  Not that I give a shit what they think of me, but they're helping Carlei establish herself as Queen, so we want to keep them on our side.</p><p>"You know something silly?" I ask her.  "I kind of miss the Temple rooms."  Carlei's wardrobe alone is probably twice the size of the rooms we were given at the Temples of Joto - hardly unsurprising given that the Temples offer room and board to any petitioner who asks for it, but it did mean that the rooms were poky, to say the least.  But they felt familiar, safe.  Carlei has the finest room in the palace, and all the ornate decorations and magical trinkets just feel...strange.</p><p>Carlei giggles, moving to stand next to me, her arm around my waist.  I let my wings manifest and furl one around her - not that she needs me to keep her warm, even if she is just wearing a thin nightgown.  "Do you miss the Temples or just travelling Joto?"</p><p>"Both," I admit.  "Everything felt so much...easier."</p><p>She nods.  "At least it's over now.  No matter how infuriating the courtiers might be," she added, with a small chuckle, "at least we're safe here."</p><p>Safe.  Barely a day goes past I don't find myself thinking about that.  Before all this I'd have never given it a second thought, even after Jake's disappearance three - well, four, now - years ago.  And we're called Blessed Warriors for a reason - our Blessings make us stronger and faster, with an instinct and urge for combat.  From the minute my Blessing activated I could've probably taken on any pro fighter from my world in a fist-fight and had a decent shot at winning - and I've had a year of growth and training, to say nothing of my <i>actual</i> powers.  And on top of all that, Blessed are incredibly resistant to pain, so even if we do get hurt it doesn't do much more than give us a jolt of adrenaline - for most of us, at least.  Lyra never had that protection and I'm still in awe of how brave she must have been to fight alongside us despite it.</p><p>But for all the incredible power, I still have to worry about whether we're safe.</p><p>I turn to Carlei properly, slipping my arms around her waist too.  "You want to fly?"</p><p>She knows full well it's <i>me</i> that wants to fly.  It's supposed to be arrogant for Blessed to use their physical Manifestations unnecessarily, but she's never stopped me, and in any case, most Blessed have to work to keep their Manifestations active, but my wings are effortless to maintain.  A quirk of my mysterious powers as a Chosen of Arceus, I guess.  "Go on, then," she whispers, leaning against me and putting her arms around me too.</p><p>I smile and flick us into the air, high above the clouds where no-one can see us, her aura of fire keeping us warm.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's been nearly two months since we beat Lance.  Carlei's been officially crowned Queen now, in the throne room of the palace - it would have been a far more impressive ceremony if the throne room wasn't still badly damaged from our battle with Lance.  Fortunately, the ceremony here is only part of the coronation.  The actual coronation, the one that will have her respected as Queen of Tojo, has to be held in Kanto, atop the sacred Mount Otsukimi, and then she gets to come back and be formally announced as queen to the people of Joto in another big ceremony.  Because apparently nothing can ever be simple when you start looking at noble customs.</p><p>The journey to Kanto for the coronation is expected to take almost three months by boat.  I always thought it was closer, especially after I accidentally used my Air Aspect to fling myself there in the space of just a few minutes, just after Haneka had died, but even three months is quick by nautical standards - a perk of being able to use the royal flagship <i>Drake</i>, which was supposedly blessed by Suicune centuries ago, and can sail through the harshest storms and wildest waves.</p><p>But, unfortunately, before we can leave for Kanto, there's even more pomp and ceremony.</p><p>Our wedding, specifically.</p><p>After seeing how trimmed-down the coronation was because of the damage Lance had caused, I'd been quietly hoping that the same would be true of the wedding.  No such luck - wedding ceremonies are held in the palace grounds, so people can come and watch and cheer.</p><p>It turns out Joto doesn't quite go in for the 'bad luck to see the bride before the wedding' thing.  Just the opposite, in fact - at least, once the marriage ceremony has been performed privately.  After that, far from being kept apart, we have to prepare together - in fact, we have to prepare <i>each other</i>, without any servants or anyone else to help (though fortunately they <i>are</i> allowed to give us all the shit we need like clothes that actually fit and are in fashion this year, although we have to make the final choices.)</p><p>To some extent I'm lucky - Carlei has to do me first, because the reverse might mean her outfit gets spots of water on it or crumpled or something and my outfit is apparently much more expendable, so I don't have to try to cope with the awkwardness of washing and dressing someone my own age like she's a child without knowing that she's already gone through exactly the same awkwardness doing it for me.</p><p>On the flip side, not having to worry about the integrity of her outfit means she can deal with the awkwardness of the entire affair by putting other things on both our minds as soon as we've locked the doors, taking full advantage of the opportunity to playfully trap me in the bathtub - my Blessing might have made me strong, but Carlei's much, <i>much</i> stronger - while she's 'bathing' me.  She knows full well how much I love her showing off like this, and I'm very glad that no-one else is allowed into the wing of the palace we're using.  (We get a literal wing of the palace just for two people getting dressed.  I have no idea what the hell they expect us to use all the rooms for.)</p><p>I have to wear proper, noble clothes for this, which means about twelve different layers because apparently Jotans can never just make <i>ordinary</i> clothes.  First I have my actual underwear and socks, then what Carlei calls 'undergarments,' which are a thin pair of trousers and a long-sleeved shirt, then a pair of actual trousers that are all but harnessed to me, because apparently a belt isn't secure enough.  Then I get a thicker, frilly shirt that only comes down half my torso but which mostly hides the leather harness, a weird sash around my waist which seems to be the only splash of colour in the whole ridiculous outfit, a sharp suit jacket, white gloves, and some knee-length black boots that are shiny enough I can see our faces in them.</p><p>"I must look fucking ridiculous," I complain.</p><p>"Well, I think I prefer your heraldry," Carlei muses, "but..."</p><p>She pulls me over to a ten-foot-tall mirror for me to examine myself.  And...I look <i>older</i>.  I could probably pass for being twenty-nine, not nineteen.  I can't help but wonder how much of that is the outfit and how much is everything that's happened to me.</p><p>"I could get used to seeing you like this," she purrs, giving me one of those wicked smirks of hers, secure in the knowledge that I'm restricted in what I can do to get back at her while I'm not allowed to get my outfit messed up.</p><p>I end up abandoning the gloves and jacket and rolling up my undershirt to try to minimise how much of my new outfit gets wet.  I hadn't paid too much attention to what Carlei had been doing when she'd been combing my hair and trimming my nails - all my attention had been on <i>her</i> - but now it's my turn to do the same to her I realise that almost everything here, all the combs and nail-clippers and scissors and sponges, are either forged from mithril or from some material reinforced with magic.</p><p>I get it, of course - ordinary combs would snap before pulling a single hair from the root of Blessed as strong as we are.  But it's honestly not something I have to think about that often.  It's a rather jarring reminder just how far removed we are from the people we pass every day around the palace.</p><p>The outfit I pick for Carlei has marginally fewer layers than mine, though it's also a lot tighter in many cases and the layers all look similar.  I'm very glad of Magni dropping off her 'research' on formal dresses a couple of weeks earlier so I have at least a vague idea what order the damn things go in (she hasn't <i>quite</i> got around to proposing to Deanne yet but is spending a great deal of time figuring everything out with uncharacteristic studiousness, and I suspect that for all her bombast and courage when it comes to a fight it'll be Deanne who proposes to her in the end if they get married - but she can still ask about noble fashion for women without totally giving the game away.)</p><p>There are a lot of Jotan customs I think are stupid, but - for all that I don't like my outfit - this wedding preparation one makes sense to me.  It's <i>intimate</i>, in a way that isn't just sex.  I once met someone who told me that love was giving everything you were to someone else.  And this almost clinical, total cleansing is just that.</p><p>Of course, it's totally unfair.  I look like I'm going to some military celebration in someone else's clothes, but Carlei manages to look absolutely stunning in her deep blue dress.  She obviously notices me staring and gives me a little twirl.  "So..?  I don't look too silly, do I?"</p><p>"You look beautiful."  I pause.  "You told them to only put out dresses, didn't you?"  I think this might be the first time I've seen her in a dress - even before we spent most of our time in our respective heraldries, she always wore a shirt and trousers.</p><p>She gives me a little smile.  "I know it's your choice ultimately, but I thought...if Lyra was here, this was the sort of thing she'd have selected for you to choose from."</p><p>I thought so.</p><p>She wasn't the only one who'd asked for something specific, though.  I was honestly pretty amazed when the head of the palace servants managed to procure these, even on three weeks' notice - though I can't help but wonder if he literally just had them <i>made</i>.  "I, uh..."  I open the palm-sized box to reveal a pair of matching 'flowers' carved out of ruby, with silver leaves with delicate gold veins.</p><p>Carlei smiles, gently, and lets me thread one of them through her hair.  We'd worn a pair of real red flowers like this for a while, in memory of Bradon, the first of our group to be killed.  I wish we'd done something to memorialise Shayne and Haneka too, at the time, but we hadn't.  Maybe we'd grown too callous, too used to losing people.  So to some extent the jewelled flowers feel like a memorial to all of them.  Like in some small way it means they're all still here, watching us from the Halls of the Dead.</p><p>Carlei leans in and kisses me on the lips while she adjusts the flower in my hair, and we lean against each other slightly, gently, for a few moments, sharing the reassurance of each others' warmth, and I could just gaze into her eyes all day.</p><p>"I love you," she whispers, when we part.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I've never really been good with crowds.  On the other world I was never the one standing up in front of the crowd getting celebrated.  At best I was the one in the crowd.  And then Jake disappeared, and suddenly we were all the centre of attention whether we wanted to be or not - and not all of that attention was friendly.</p><p>It's kind of strange to realise I don't think of that world as my home any more.</p><p>Of course, it doesn't help that we were on the run for the best part of a year.  It wasn't until the very end of our journey that we stopped hiding, started standing up publicly - and it wasn't like even that was entirely our choice.</p><p>Carlei's more used to crowds than me, of course - she was the Princess and the heir to the throne for twenty years.  But we're both glad of each others' presence when we stand in the palace gardens.</p><p>Only the nobility are allowed in the gardens proper, but there's still probably fifty people here - and I can sense the crowds outside with my powers.  It's still so odd to realise that this is such a big deal to...well, everyone.</p><p>If anything, though, it's even odder to realise that probably half the people in the gardens are people none of us know.  Courtiers from minor noble families who have a place in the Imperial Court, assorted siblings and cousins of the nobles we <i>do</i> know...and I can't help but wonder how many of them actually give a shit about us, and how many of them are here because they see a political benefit to being here.</p><p>Carlei slips her hand into mine, without saying a word, and I squeeze her hand gently.</p><p>The one good thing about being the most important people in the room is that we don't have to wait for anyone else to arrive.  Everyone's already assembled in seemingly-random spots around the gardens that were weeks in the selecting, and as soon as we've arrived, the court herald begins announcing that we're all here to witness our marriage.  <i>&lt;Because clearly some people might have been here for a car boot sale,&gt;</i> I send to Carlei, telepathically, and it's a testament to her experience as a stateswoman that she doesn't so much as crack a smile outwardly, though I can feel her aura fizzing and sparking with amusement, and then she flicks a telepathic pulse back at me that makes me feel like she's tickling me again and now I'm the one having to work to keep a straight face.</p><p>I've learned to borrow Carlei's fire enough that I can create a pretty passable blast of flame, but she's gotten <i>unfairly</i> good at using my own powers against me.</p><p>The High Priest of the Faith is the one that conducts the ceremony, just as he was the one who formally married us.  He looks a lot different to the first time I met him, when he was dressed in an old robe with a bowl of tea in one hand.  Now he looks almost regal himself, and somehow I don't find myself wanting to distract us from his speech the way I had the herald.</p><p>"Love is a force of incredible power," he pronounces, softly.  "The Lovers were crystallised from the purest love of all, the love between the Great Father and the Great Mother, and since that day have brought that gift unto us.  Some underestimate its strength.  And far too many mistake lust for love.  But I can say with total confidence that the couple that stand before us today are blessed by the Lovers in truth.  Let none declare that their love is mistaken, or that their marriage invalid, for it is sealed before the gaze of the Lovers, and it is my honour to name Victor Ethan Hall of Jiritsu the husband of Her Imperial Majesty, Queen Carlei of Tojo, and grant unto him the title of King."</p><p>And that's it.  Those few words, less than a minute, and we are as completely, totally together as we can be, a pure simplicity that even the convoluted Jotan ceremonies can't confuse.</p><p>It's a Jotan tradition for newly-married spouses to give gifts to our guests.  Not that I personally have anything to give - well, I suppose I technically now have access to the royal treasury and all its riches, but wedding gifts are supposed to be more personal than just gold and jewels - but we've been discussing it ever since Carlei explained the ceremony to me and we've ironed out some good ideas.  And thankfully, we get to choose who we give gifts to - and better yet, the gift-giving is allowed to be a lot more private.</p><p>There's an 'outdoor conservatory' in one part of the gardens, a white, wooden building tucked out of the way, surrounded by flowering bushes and still mostly exposed to the elements.  The dozen-or-so Imperial Guards in full armour surrounding it rather ruin the aesthetic, but I know it's just one of those things I'm going to have to get used to.  At least I'm not afraid of them the way I was when I first arrived.  Knowing that I could knock them out with little more than a thought will do that.</p><p>Gaius is the first one we ask in.  Carlei does most of the talking, still far better at the flowery noble speeches than I am.  "Your Majesties," he greets us, bowing low.  I was half expecting him to still call me 'kid.'</p><p>"Please, rise."  Carlei and I are seated on plush, comfortable chairs, and she has a hand lightly resting on my leg to remind me I don't need to get up.  "I made an agreement with you a long time ago - that I would examine the corruption and decay within the Imperial Guards, should I regain my position in the royal family.  While this...situation...is not an outcome either of us considered when we made that pact, I still intend to honour it.  First, I rescind the charges and verdict brought against you.  You are to be treated as any other Imperial Guard who retired from their position for personal reasons, should you wish to reclaim your role.  However..."  She pauses.  "I know you and Goban have been working to expose the corruption among the Guards who did not leave alongside Bruno - passing the information to Koga, I presume.  For that you have my thanks.  But would you like to do more?"</p><p>I get the feeling Gaius knows what she's about to suggest - but, maybe, doesn't entirely want to believe it.  "Your Majesty?"</p><p>"The Imperial Guards are leaderless.  I need them to be commanded by someone I can trust - and per the laws of their foundation, their Commander must be a serving Imperial Guard, or one honourably discharged, with no relation to the royal family.  You and Goban are the only Imperial Guards I could trust, and since Goban's promotion to Lieutenant by Silver was a field promotion, you technically outrank him - and in any case, his tenure would be brief in the extreme given the second requirement for the post.  So...if you would accept it, I wish to name you the Commander of my Imperial Guard."</p><p>Gaius is silent for a long few moments.  "I...I accept, Your Majesty.  And...thank you.  For not giving up, for having faith.  Not many people would've."</p><p><i>&lt;He's right, you know,&gt;</i> I murmur to Carlei, as we wait for the next recipient to be fished out of the political mingling.  <i>&lt;Most people would've given up.  You're incredible.&gt;</i></p><p>
  <i>&lt;I had you.&gt;</i>
</p><p>The next visitor - or rather, visitors - cause a bit of a quarrel with the guards surrounding our little building.  Not that it surprises either of us.  "Let her through," Carlei commands, and the Imperial Guards move aside smoothly to allow Magni to catch up to Deanne.</p><p><i>&lt;Looks like you were wrong,&gt;</i> Carlei purrs.  <i>&lt;She didn't just bowl over the guards that tried to stop her.&gt;</i></p><p><i>&lt;You didn't give her the chance to!&gt;</i> I complain.</p><p>Carlei's laughter reverberates over our bond.  <i>&lt;But it's another win for me.  I'll make sure to claim my reward later.&gt;</i></p><p>I really wish I hadn't started getting her to make bets on how people are going to behave to let us pass the time in boring political meetings.  She's way better at it than I am and <i>very</i> inventive when it comes to the cost for me losing.</p><p>Somehow I suspect Magni and Deanne know we were talking telepathically, because Magni is as bad at hiding her emotions as I am and I can see her smirking at me.</p><p>"I'm afraid this gift is technically for Deanne, Magni," Carlei adds, aloud, even though all four of us know it makes no difference which of them receives it since they're as inseparable as me and Carlei are.  And for the first time since the wedding ceremony, her expression gets a little sadder.  "Deanne...my father wronged you, grievously.  To use you as a pawn in a political game, and have you arrested and imprisoned despite your innocence is...despicable.  And there is little I can do to apologise for his actions.  And yet, despite that cruelty, you stood by his daughter.  And there is still little I can do to reward you for that kindness.  But..."  She reaches over, using my powers to float a scroll from the table beside us onto her lap.  "Lord Choro was kind enough to provide me with this, a lasting reward for your grace and benevolence.  In my name, he has bequeathed you a plot of land in the city of Fusube, for you and your descendants to hold and live in for as long as they will."</p><p>It had taken a lot of explanation from Carlei to drill into me just how big a deal this is.  The buildings of Fusube are <i>ancient</i>, most of them in the same family for generations - sometimes centuries - and in the rare event that a landowner dies without leaving an heir, there are dozens of noble families clamouring for the head of House Blackthorn to bestow it to them.  To give it to the second cousin of the lord's granddaughter is unheard of.</p><p>This might explain why Deanne just gapes at us for a few moments, totally stunned.  Magni obviously knows enough about Fusube to understand how massive this is too, but she recovers quicker.  "You're supposed to accept, you know," she points out to Deanne, teasingly.</p><p>Deanne blushes, stumbling over her words.  "I...thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty, but...there is little I have done for you beyond providing you a vessel to sail.  I never fought for you in truth."</p><p>"But you would have, were there need."  Carlei makes the scroll drift out to them.  "Take it."</p><p>In the end, Magni takes it, interlacing her fingers with Deanne's and moving their arms so the scroll settles on Deanne's palm, and then leans in and kisses her briefly.  "C'mon."  She glances back to us.  "Thank you, Your Majesties."</p><p>As subdued and stunned as Deanne is, I can feel her aura beginning to bubble with hope and elation and love as they leave, and somehow I suspect Magni's overly-thought out proposal plans are going to end up going to waste.</p><p>There's only one more person we wanted to give a gift to.</p><p>I haven't seen Ampharal since Lyra's funeral.  He's still wearing all black, even though it's more than a month since then.  As far as I know, the funeral and this wedding are the only two times he's left the lighthouse that serves as the home of the lord of Kirameki.</p><p>He kneels down in front of us, not meeting Carlei's eyes.  "Your Majesty."</p><p>"Amphy..."  Carlei gets up, kneeling down in front of him so they're at the same level.  "I...I'm so sorry."  We haven't had the chance to talk to him since it happened.  As soon as he realised what had happened, he left the palace, taking a horse from the rebellion's army and riding back to Kirameki.  I know not being able to apologise has been hurting Carlei, no matter how much she might have tried to hide it and bury it under our wedding.  "If we hadn't involved her - if <i>I</i> hadn't involved her, she would have -"</p><p>"Stop."  He still doesn't look at her.  "You aren't responsible, Carlei.  And nor are you, Ethan.  The ones responsible are Lance and the charologists, and he's dead and they're in chains in the Monastery."</p><p>And that's why it's so hard to come to terms with.  There's no easy outlet, no-one we can punish, nothing we can do to try to make things better.</p><p>"I'm sorry," he says, more quietly.  "Please, just...let us get through the politics."</p><p>Carlei sits back down next to me, squeezing my hand tightly when I take it and rub the back of her hand with my thumb.  "In honour of...in honour of Lyra, I wanted to give you a new role.  You knew her better than any of us."</p><p>"I doubt that," Ampharal replies, curtly.  "I only ever cared about keeping her safe, not what she wanted."</p><p>"Maybe at first, yes.  But you let her become the person she wanted to be.  She wouldn't have fallen in love with you if you hadn't.  She would've married you, if you'd asked her."</p><p>"I was going to," he murmurs, quietly.</p><p>Carlei is quiet for a few moments.  "Through Lyra, you knew of Hoen better than any of the rest of us.  And more importantly, you know what she would've wanted better than us.  So, in her name, I want you to become my councillor with respect to Hoen.  How this kingdom treats Hoen will be up to you."</p><p>"But..."  Ampharal looks up to her for the first time.  "I want to punish them.  The Fire Lord for his cruelty and his campaign against the Water Blessed, the original ruling family of Hoen for letting him take over...all of them.  One man's quest for vengeance cannot dictate the policy of a kingdom.  If it did, we would be no better than them."</p><p>"And I trust that you won't let that corrupt you."  Carlei picks up a small, sealed envelope from where we'd hidden it inside a mass of meaningless reports.  "When, um...when Lyra's room was being cleaned, before the wedding...the servants found this among her possessions.  We think she wrote it before Silver helped her escape the palace after Ethan and I fled.  It's addressed to you, and marked with...this symbol."</p><p>Ampharal all but snatches it from her hand, holding it close with both hands as if it's Lyra herself for a few moments before he catches up with the rest of what Carlei had been saying.</p><p>"We had to have Koga look it up," Carlei admits, "but as far as we understand, it's -"</p><p>"The Hoen sigil representing their version of the Corruption Aspect.  Sealing a letter like this, it indicates it is only to be opened when the writer has passed into the Halls of the Dead."  Amphy doesn't look up to us, just looking down at the envelope in his hands.  "But I...I can't."</p><p>"You don't have to open it now.  Or make a decision about Hoen now.  But...when you're ready, it will be your choice to make, for her."</p><p>Amphy doesn't say anything for a long few moments.  "Thank you, Carlei," he says, eventually.</p><p><i>&lt;Do you think he'll be all right?&gt;</i> I ask her.</p><p>
  <i>&lt;Yes.  In time.&gt;</i>
</p><p>We manage to avoid most of the politics - I don't think either of us could really face it - but the next task is for us to ride through the streets of the capital in a carriage to let the people who aren't important enough to attend the wedding celebrate our marriage.  When the rebellion against Lance became a real thing, people started calling Carlei 'crowned of the Rainbow Dawn' in honour of Ho-oh's sign of favour, and now that's stuck with her, so there are a rainbow- and dawn-themed displays of flowers, cloth, and whatever else people have to hand pretty much whenever we look out of the windows of the carriage.</p><p>By the time we get back to the palace, the wedding ceremony has turned into more of a party - still somewhat formal and political, but at least we can let our hair down a bit.  We have to lead the first dance, which would be much more difficult if I couldn't just step in close to Carlei and let her twirl me around in time with the music, and people start challenging Carlei to duels (apparently a celebration like this is the one time you're allowed to test the strength of the ruling monarch in battle) so I get to sit back and watch Carlei trounce them, even with the hindrance of her dress, before she pulls me back to the dance floor again.</p><p>It's late in the night by the time the ball draws to a close, though neither of us are even remotely tired.  The moon is high in the sky, and we don't need anything more than its light to lead us back out away from the courtiers and into the quiet privacy of the shrouded conservatory.</p><p>I'd told Carlei once I wished we could just leave everything behind, and just let it be the two of us forever, without any noble titles or incredible powers.</p><p>But cuddling close to each other, secluded from the rest of the gardens by the bushes, with the floral scent in the air, it could just be the two of us, and we forget everything else.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The blimps arrive just a couple of days after our wedding, sailing serenely out of the clouds and outpacing all the messenger birds sent to warn of their arrival, swooping in and landing outside the walls of the fortress of Sekiei.</p><p>The Imperial Guards, such as they are, still rebuilding after half their number were thrown into prison for corruption or left in exile with Bruno, surround the blimps as the front segments unfold out.  Or try to, at least - the forces that emerge from within outnumber them three to one, all but ignoring the readied weapons of the Guards.  By the time any of the rest of us arrive, the newcomers have spread out, forcing the Guards to back away through sheer force of numbers, trusting that none of them will strike first without an order.</p><p>"What is the -" Carlei starts to demand, but as soon as they see her the soldiers kneel down.  "Stand aside," she adds to the nearest Guards, and they seem more than happy to obey, letting her get between them and the kneeling soldiers.  She narrows her eyes.  "Who are you?"</p><p>"Please forgive our rudeness, Your Majesty."  The voice echoes from inside the cavernous hold of the blimp, and a young woman emerges, dressed in dark robes with deep purple hair.</p><p>"Janine?"  Carlei relaxes slightly, but she doesn't signal the Guards to stand down.  "What are...<i>your</i>?..soldiers wearing?"</p><p>Janine kneels down too, deeply enough that her head almost touches the dirt for a few moments.  "After the Common King freed Kanto from the Exile King's tyranny, it was decided by the Lords and Ladies of Kanto that the garb of the Exile King's former soldiers had become permanently marred by his malevolence.  No-one in Kanto would've felt safe defended by warriors wearing the old style of armour as is retained in Joto.  Thus, it was agreed that the Imperial Guard of Kanto would wear simpler garb, out of respect for the Common King.  We...had assumed you would have been informed, Majesty.  Just as we assumed you would have been informed of our approach.  Again, my <i>humblest</i> apologies for the insult."</p><p>"Hmm."  Carlei obviously doesn't believe in Janine's faux-apologetic tone any more than I do.  I've been in enough political meetings now that I'm getting pretty good at recognising the subtexts and hidden meanings within hidden meanings, but I don't need that experience to pick up that every other sentence is chosen to make her sound superior as politely as possible.</p><p>And my powers only reinforce that impression.  There's an <i>anger</i> bubbling in Janine, raw and harsh and only just being quelled by the satisfaction her constant digs at us are giving her.</p><p>"And who is 'we,' exactly?" Carlei asks.</p><p>"Why, the Lords and Ladies of Kanto, Majesty."</p><p>Carlei invites Janine back into the palace to receive her 'officially', a stiff, awkward greeting that's far more formal and far more full of soldiers in the room standing at attention like statues than the more peaceful meetings between us and the Lords and Ladies of Joto (all of whom we know and who fought alongside us in the rebellion against Lance.)  Janine comments on how 'unfortunate' it is that the throne room is still in a state of disarray after the battle with Lance.</p><p>"So, what decision has the Council of Kanto reached that is so momentous it required the head of House Fuschia to travel to Joto personally, departing her lands for such a long duration?"</p><p>"The journey is of no concern, Majesty.  The vessel upon which I arrived is enchanted with potent Air magic, and while those that followed are not quite so powerful, the journey here took us but two weeks."</p><p>We can all hear surprised whispers flurry through the court.  Janine bows her head deferentially to hide her smirk, her features returned to a polite mask of respect when she looks back up at us.</p><p>"Allow me to reassure you, Majesty," Janine continues, "that while these skyships were the creation of the Exile King, the Guardians of Heresy have assured us that they need not be destroyed.  For the Chosen to use their Blessings to forge mighty artifacts has long been tradition.  As for our purpose...Kanto and Joto have been disparate for far too long.  Even before the Exile King's tyranny, and the counterpart cruelty you have suffered here.  It is the belief of the Council of Kanto that Your Majesty's coronation should proceed as soon as possible.  Thus, the Royal Flagship of Kanto was dispatched, under my unworthy direction, to offer you a means of swift conveyance.  And we wished to perform another small ceremony, in honour of Your Majesty's new role as our Queen."</p><p>Carlei raises an eyebrow.  "What honour?"</p><p>"The Exile King gave the Royal Flagship a name of his own.  As with his own name, we shall never speak it aloud, but it deserves a name befitting its state as Royal Flagship.  In honour of the family of Your Majesty, Queen of Kanto, we wish to rename the vessel <i>Niamh</i>."</p><p>Even for all Carlei's decorum, she can't suppress a quiet gasp.  "After my mother?"</p><p>For once, Janine's anger is a little more muted, and her tone more genuine and gentle.  "Her Highness Queen Niamh was a fine ruler and friend of Kanto."  And then for a moment she almost sounds unsure, and it feels like she's consciously trying to make herself angrier again, drawing herself back to that thin veil of politeness like it gives her the confidence to act like this.  "We would beg that you allow our humble request."</p><p>Janine 'humbly' assures Carlei that she and her soldiers will be perfectly fine sleeping in the airships rather than taking up the palace's resources, but we can't quite contrive a way to deny her permission to come in and out of the palace grounds.</p><p>"Was she always such a bitch?" I ask Carlei, once she's safely out of the palace.</p><p>"In truth, I have not much interacted with her," Carlei admits.  "It was only after the rebellion in Kanto that she became the Lady of Sekichiku, and...well, the next meeting after that point was the Sanguine Council."</p><p>I'm glad she can talk about it calmly now - that she's managed to come to terms with what happened when the Council erupted into violence - but I know how closely she came to death then still upsets her, maybe even more than any of the danger we were in after fleeing the palace.  "Did the Kantans just...stop coming to the council meetings after that?"</p><p>"More or less," she nods.  "When the lord and heir of House Cerulean were slain, it was a punishing blow to both the House and the region of Hanada.  And Father let it go unanswered.  If the discovery that he had never been Blessed had not destroyed his reputation, his lack of an immediate retribution upon the killers did."</p><p>"Did they ever find out who did it?"</p><p>Carlei shakes her head.  "No.  Father had no interest in investigating.  So...yes, it could have been Janine."  Evidently we both had the same idea.  I know two of the Lords of Joto believe that Lady Sabrina had something to do with the violence, but having met Janine I'm sure she'd be willing to stoop to the level of assassinating a rival.</p><p>"You should not trust her, Majesty."</p><p>"Fucking -!"  We whirl around to glare at Koga.  "Do you <i>have</i> to do that?" I complain.  Where the fuck had he even come from?</p><p>"As her father, I would have thought you would support her more than most," Carlei points out, once we've calmed down a bit from Koga's sudden appearance.</p><p>I don't know why I hadn't realised the family similarity between Koga and Janine as soon as I'd seen her, but now Carlei mentions it it's blatantly obvious.  I'd known Koga had been forced out of his position of Lord of a region in Kanto by Lance, but I'd never known <i>which</i> exactly.</p><p>"It is because I am her father that I know precisely what depths she will stoop to," Koga counters.  "The decision to rescind my lordship was not Lance's alone - and the suspicion he had that I had aided the Exile King did not manifest from thin air."  He sighs slightly.  "We were so close, once.  But now..."</p><p>"Regardless of whether we trust her," Carlei points out, "Janine was perfectly correct when she said Tojo has been in two halves for far too long.  And if the airship truly can travel between the two lands in two weeks, it would...it would be an incredible boon to Tojo.  To rule the two kingdoms as one would be infeasible if it took quarter of a year to travel between the two.  But if it takes just a fraction of that...it may truly be possible for the two kingdoms to become one.  For us to put all the cruelty, all the terror, that Lance and Giovanni caused -" she forgets to censor Giovanni's name "- behind us at long last.</p><p>"It isn't an opportunity that we can pass up."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We agree to Janine's request the next day.  She smiles and thanks Carlei for her generosity and praises her intelligence, and I can feel that anger in her coiling like a snake ready to strike.</p><p>The coronation ceremony in Otsukimi to officially crown Carlei Queen of Tojo requires all the nobles of both kingdoms to be present, but since all the nobles of Joto were already at the palace for our wedding, at least we don't have to worry about sending them messages to request their presence.</p><p>The ceremonial launching of the newly-named <i>Niamh</i> is the one relaxed moment we have over the next couple of days.  None of us trust Janine and the soldiers she's brought with her, and we have to choose between bringing others with us for more of a fighting force if we need it and not wanting to put them in danger.</p><p>In the end, only Magni, Gaius and Deanne come with us on the <i>Niamh</i> with Janine, the others following behind on the other airships - who we outpace by the end of the first night of sailing through the sky.</p><p>When we'd sailed back from Fusube to Sekiei, we'd travelled about Lord Choro's ship, the <i>Oryu</i>, and at the time I'd thought the accommodations were luxurious.  That was before I'd spent two months living in the palace as the second-most important person in the kingdom, but the <i>Niamh</i> rivals the palace for over-the-top luxury and style.  There's a bath the size of a swimming pool on one of the lower decks.</p><p>Not that we take in much of the luxury.  Janine isn't the only one with that cold malevolence swirling deep in her.  A lot of the soldiers, and a fair few of the crew, have those same flashes of anger whenever they see Carlei - and though they don't react to the rest of us to quite the same extent, we're obviously tarred with the same brush.  None of us can relax, and we're all looking forwards to being able to dock at Otsukimi, where at least no matter how angry anyone is with us no-one would dare pick a fight.</p><p>Which is probably why we don't get to Otsukimi.</p><p>We don't eat any of the food they offer us - ordinary poisons wouldn't work on Blessed, and Carlei and Deanne can both use healing magic to cure most magical poisons, but after our experience with Amphy being poisoned by a specially-designed toxin imbued with Corruption energy, none of us want to take the risk.</p><p>But we pretend, and we obviously pretend well enough that they expect us to be out cold when someone breaks into our room with a pair of knives manifested.</p><p>He goes for Carlei first, and if he hadn't been trying to kill us I'd almost feel bad for him given how massively out of his league he turns out to be.  A very brief moment later, and the would-be assassin is lying on the ground with her sword resting at his throat.</p><p>"Why are you doing this?" Carlei hisses to him.</p><p>He pauses for a moment, obviously thinking about whether he should answer, seemingly unconcerned by the sword.  "We were freed from Imperial tyranny once.  We will not submit to it again."</p><p>"And what makes you think I would be a tyrant?"</p><p>The assassin actually scoffs at that.  "Lance replaced the exile rather than allow Kanto be ruled by Kantans.  Now you overthrow him violently and replace him, and still refuse to allow our fate to be in the hands of any that care about us.  What difference is there between you and him?"</p><p>He conjures one of his knives again and tries to lunge up at her.  It would've worked a lot better if I hadn't pinned him to the ground with my powers after Carlei had thrown him down, and he struggles for a moment, an expression of surprise plain on his face, before he realises what's happening.</p><p>"So you have no respect for the command of Lord Ho-oh," Carlei remarks, coolly.</p><p>"We have nothing but the utmost respect for the Divines.  But your false sign of approval is nothing but another of your many crimes.  You might have fooled the people of Joto, but we know all too well how easy it is for your family to pass vile heresy off as holiness."</p><p>I know how cruel an insult that would be to any Blessed, but a few flames that run down Carlei's sword and evaporate before touching her attacker are the only overt reaction she gives.  "I am neither my father nor my uncle," she retorts.</p><p>I realise with a jolt that I can't sense Janine's aura anywhere.  I'd thought I'd been keeping an eye on her - so to speak - but she must have masked her aura and slipped away.</p><p>"And yet you grew up at their feet and would inevitably perpetuate the same cruelty if we allowed it.  But you will <i>not</i>."</p><p>I feel it a moment before it happens - the strange, alien feeling of Divine power coursing down from whatever <i>elsewhere</i> realm they reside, suffusing the body of a person who knows that it will burn them to ash and gives themselves to it all the same.</p><p>An explosion tears through the ship with enough force to knock it onto a forty-five degree angle for a few moments.  Before it rights itself, another explosion erupts, much closer, close enough that the ornate windows of our room shatter, and I hear people on the <i>Niamh</i> start to scream as fear permeates the air and the skyship starts to fall.</p><p>We stumble out onto the main part of the vessel, a large conference room the size of the palace's throne room, with the deck slanted forwards and the entire damn thing jolting and shuddering, making it difficult to keep our balance.</p><p>But if it's hard for us, it's a hundred times harder for the Kantans that were on the vessel too, and most of them can do little more than crawl and try to cling onto something when another layer of the magic keeping the ship aloft fails and we abruptly drop a few feet.  One of the beams of wood making up the hull comes loose and starts to fall, and almost before I've realised it's happening Carlei's there, slicing through the wood with her sword and bodily shielding a duo of soldiers from the remnants of the beam - I feel a stab of pain from her, but the impact would've crushed the two Kantans in an instant.</p><p>I'd wondered why there were so few Blessed among the Kantans when we'd first boarded.  And now I know.  Janine evidently wanted to eliminate the risk that multiple Blessed working together could save the ship somehow.</p><p>I can feel Deanne, Magni and Gaius through the haze of frightened auras.  They escaped the assassination attempt as easily as we did, and somehow I find myself almost more worried about the Kantan soldiers and crew than I do them.</p><p>Maybe it's because I know the five of us could survive this.  Janine underestimated us.  With my powers I could easily carry the five of us down to ground level, and even without that the <i>Niamh</i> is falling slowly enough that the inevitable crash wouldn't do any lasting damage, not to us.</p><p>That would be the smart thing to do.  There must be more than a hundred people on board, and I can't just grab everyone and drag them out the nearest window - at least, not carefully enough that I wouldn't do just as much damage as the crash.  And my powers have grown stronger since my Ascension, but I sure as fuck can't lift the whole skyship for long enough to lower us safely to the ground.</p><p>But I can't just leave them.  I don't need to look - I barely even need to use my powers - to know they're watching us.  We're their only hope.  Maybe <i>I'm</i> their only hope.</p><p>I stretch my powers out, the shimmering, prismatic motes of light that are my way of interpreting my abilities flowing out from me like a snowstorm and settling into the structure of the <i>Niamh</i>.  I give a light, tentative pull, not putting too much of my power into it, and I don't think I even slow us down.  If anything, I think we're speeding up, our angle and the pushing force of the magic that should've kept us aloft accelerating us forwards instead.</p><p>The Kantans are starting to fall quiet now, holding onto whatever they can find to anchor themselves through the jolting and bumping as the deck becomes ever more tilted.  </p><p>So now I have a telekinetic grip that isn't even close to strong enough to do anything useful.  "<span class="small">Now would be a real good time for you to lend me your power again, Jake.</span>"  I'm not even sure why I say it.  I've never heard anything from him since the palace - if it was even him I heard it from at all in the first place and I wasn't just imagining things.</p><p>And then I hear a faint whisper, so distant that I'm not even sure I'm really hearing it.</p><p>"You don't need <i>my</i> power.  You have <i>theirs</i>."</p><p>And somehow...I feel, if not understand.  I can feel the fear of the crew and soldiers around us, but more than that...I can feel their hope, too.  They know just as much as I do that we're the only chance they have at surviving this, and somehow there's still a genuine hope there that we <i>will</i>, that anger at us I'd felt from them long buried.</p><p>I remember another faint flicker of hope, all but masked by despair and cut off before that hope could be rewarded.</p><p>We can't fail again.</p><p><i>I</i> can't fail again.</p><p>I close my eyes, let that well of power I've worked so hard to keep controlled rise up, just a little.  The boards of the <i>Niamh</i> creak as my telekinetic grip strengthens and I can feel a ripple of surprise run through the people around me as the floor under us jolts in a very different way.</p><p>Maybe I could hold the <i>Niamh </i>up, if I gave in to that power completely.  But no matter how much people might tell me that it isn't evil, that it isn't Chaos, it's still <i>dangerous</i>.  Even just tapping into it this tiny amount immediately makes it surge to the forefront of my powers, wild and unstoppable - and it crashes into the hope and even surprise of the Kantans, and even Carlei and the others, and that soft, gentle happiness keeps it constrained in a way no amount of outside force and no amount of my own concentration ever could, and my motes of light blaze brightly and growing until the entire <i>Niamh</i> is coated in a sheathe of light, and I find myself less holding my breath and more with neither need nor ability to breathe as my powers crackle and vibrate with energy.</p><p>I've never been good at teleportation magic.  I've grown better at it over the past couple of months - good enough that I can use it consciously now, at least - but I've only once been able to teleport with anyone but myself and Carlei, and that was more the Divines' magic than mine.</p><p>But I exhale, and there's a faint sense of movement and we're <i>elsewhere</i>, and that strange, alien power recoils and retreats deep back into that pit in my soul and I slam down the metaphorical lid that keeps it contained and slump back into Carlei's arms as the <i>Niamh</i> lands in mud and water with one final jolt.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I wake up cradled in Carlei's lap, which is nice.  It would've been a lot nicer if I didn't also wake up with every fibre of my being aching like I'd run a marathon or three and then maybe fallen off a cliff to round things off, but I'll take being cuddled up against my wife (and it still feels so incredible that I can think of us as husband and wife!) and it takes me a few moments to remember -</p><p>"What happened!?"  I jolt up and immediately regret it, and don't protest when Carlei wraps one arm around me and pulls me back down to lean against her again.</p><p>"Easy." Her voice is half soothing, half scolding. "We're okay. <i>Everyone's</i> okay," she corrects herself, after a moment.  "You..."  She casts around for the right word to describe what I just did.  "You <i>moved</i> us - the entire <i>Niamh</i> - down to ground level.  Some of the soldiers and crew are injured, but...they're all alive."</p><p>I look up at her.  Her emotions are a complicated tangle, anger and sadness and bewilderment and relief.</p><p>She gives a dry chuckle.  "Just when I thought I'd understood your powers, you do something as monumental as whisking a flagship across the oceans in the blink of an eye."  Then she sighs, helping me to sit up so we can lean against each other.</p><p>I look around to realise that we're perched on what must, at one point, have been one of the massive wooden boards that made up the hull of the <i>Niamh</i>.  We're in some kind of marsh, and this is probably the biggest bit of dry land around, and we're the only ones on it.</p><p>I can see a lot of the soldiers and crew of the <i>Niamh </i>around, but once I'm settled next to her, Carlei promptly wraps me in a fiercely tight hug and I can't see much more than her hair.  "Don't do that again," she whispers quietly.  "You...I couldn't heal you.  I could feel you breathing but..."  She trails off, and I hug her back, furling my wings around her.</p><p>"I'm not going anywhere," I promise her.  No matter what happens, that's one thing I'm certain of.</p><p>"I know," she murmurs back, but we don't let go for a long few minutes.</p><p>"So where..."  I pull away from her slightly to look around as our situation comes back to me.  "Where <i>are</i> we?"</p><p>"Ah."  Carlei perks up a bit.  "Fortunately, we have a few new allies who know more about Kanto than we do."</p><p>I hadn't really realised how many of the Kantans were around us until I properly start paying attention.  A lot of them are hurt, one or two laid out on other broken bits of wood and lying still - but they're all alive, just as Carlei had said.  When I realise that most of them, even the wounded, are waist-deep in the swamp, I can't help but feel bad that we're nice and comfortable up on the broken board, but I'm not in much of a state to go anywhere on my own.  Carlei helps me up - tempted as I am to pretend I'm fine, I know she'd see through me - and I stay leaning against her as I look around.</p><p>That feeling of anger and spite I'd sensed from the soldiers and crew is...maybe not gone, but at least a lot more muted.  The overwhelming emotion emanating from them now is more <i>confusion</i> than anything else.</p><p>"You...certainly made an impression," Carlei adds to me in an undertone, as the Kantans bow their heads deferentially when they see us looking at them.  She nods to one of the closer Kantans.  "Captain Palmarr has offered to help coordinate...everyone."</p><p>"M'lord," Palmarr nods, bowing as best he can without getting a faceful of swamp.  I can feel anger roiling in him - but not directed at us.  "I believe we are to the south of Kanto, in the region of Sekichiku."</p><p>So we're in the right kingdom, at least - albeit pretty much on the wrong side of the kingdom.  "Janine's land," Carlei observes, coolly.</p><p>"I swear to you, milady, none of us knew Lady Janine was planning on destroying the <i>Niamh</i>," Palmarr promises, hastily.  And I believe him - that anger is perfectly clear in his voice.</p><p>"But you did know she was planning <i>something</i>," Carlei counters, and Palmarr doesn't deny it.  She frowns, bites back whatever retort she was planning on following up with.  "How long will it take us to reach the city?"</p><p>Palmarr sighs.  "For a small party, a few days.  Considering our state, the better part of a month."</p><p>It goes unsaid that the five of us could easily make the journey.  "Can we get any supplies off the <i>Niamh</i>?" I ask.  "Or...lifeboats, or something?" I add, looking around at the sodden terrain.</p><p>"The <i>Niamh</i> carries little cargo," Palmarr admits.  "At the speeds she flies...or, at least, flew...there was rarely any need of extensive reserves.  But..."  He hesitates.  "Many of the enchantments woven into the hull of the vessel are likely still intact.  We could build rudimentary rafts from them with far greater ease than we could using wood from what trees there are here."</p><p>Carlei sighs.  "We will likely need rafts to transport the wounded without subjecting them to the swamp water.  Do as you will."</p><p>"Are you okay?" I ask her quietly, once Palmarr's departed.</p><p>"I...she made me name it after my mother," she murmurs, quietly.  "Knowing that she planned to destroy it in an attempt to kill me. "</p><p>I lean in and kiss her, and she rests her head on my shoulder, eyes closed.</p><p>"I don't understand how they can hate me so much," she whispers.</p><p>We spend most of the day preparing to set out, salvaging what we can from the <i>Niamh</i>.  There are enough ropes from the sails and balloons that it isn't too hard to lash together some of the broken boards to form a half-dozen rafts.</p><p>I hate just sitting around watching everyone else work, and I'm very glad that my Blessed resilience starts to reassert itself within what I guess is a couple of hours.  By the time the sun's going down I'm more or less back to full fitness.</p><p>"So..."  I hesitate, checking Cpt Palmarr isn't too close before looking back to the two crew members I'm working with - I don't know why, but this just feels like something that they're more likely to tell me if they don't have their superior officer breathing down their necks.  "Why did you hate Carlei so much when we first boarded?"  They look at each other for a moment, surprised...maybe embarrassed.  "You all did."</p><p>I'm not convinced they're going to tell me at first - maybe Magni would have better luck, since I'm Carlei's husband and so probably tarred with the same brush - but then one of them sighs.  "Everything we had heard of C...of the Queen," he makes an effort to correct himself, "had made her sound every bit as cruel as the Exile or her father."</p><p>"First the Exile drew upon heretical power," the other one adds, "and offered it as a way of growing closer to the Divines, a supposed gift he had been granted by the Divines themselves, and used that power to force Kanto to kneel.  Then Lance drew upon that same power to proclaim himself Blessed by the Divines, and demanded Kanto kneel.  And now we hear that Lance has been violently overthrown by his daughter, who proclaims herself crowned by Lord Ho-Oh, and comes to demand we kneel.  It sounds...sounded...no different."</p><p>I'm glad of all the stupid political meetings I'd had to go to.  They're the only reason I can keep a level expression.  "The High Priest of the Faith was the one that presided over our marriage," I point out.  "Would he have done that if Carlei was as bad as Lance or the Exile King?"</p><p>"Please don't call him King," the first crewman interrupts, unexpectedly harshly.  "He is Exile, nothing more."  Then he sighs.  "The High Priest supported the Common King from the beginning, but overtly he stood by the Exile until it was safe for his Faith to turn against the crown.  Even had we known he supported the Queen, it would have meant little.  But..."  He trails off, turning to instead focus on tying the rope off while I hold the raft in place for them.</p><p>"Neither the Exile nor Lance would've lifted a finger to protect people they didn't know," the second crewman explains, bluntly.  "But we all saw Her Majesty shield the others, and get hurt doing so.  Even if it was barely more than a blow from a fist to her where it would've taken the lives of any mortal it struck...no-one as cruel as we had heard would've done that."</p><p>To Carlei, protecting those people was little more than instinct, almost as natural as breathing.  But while she might be something of an extreme exception, I can't help but wonder - if something as simple as protecting innocent people could change their opinions of her so drastically...</p><p>Just how hurt had the people of Kanto been by Lance and Giovanni?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We manage to beat Palmarr's estimate for the journey to Sekichiku by about a week, but it feels a lot longer.</p><p>We have the enchanted wood from the <i>Niamh</i> to make the rafts, of course, but that's probably the only reason we make any progress at all.  Actually <i>moving</i> the rafts is the first challenge - the first attempts at creating oars to pole us along end in failure, as even when there are enough people on them that they actually have a chance at moving the rafts, we used most of the easy-to-scavenge wood to make the rafts themselves, so we're having to resort to lashing together lengths of wood from the swampy land around us, and our rudimentary oars tend to break within a few minutes of use.  And if one of the rafts gets stuck to a muddy bank, no amount of poling and paddling can pull them free.  So, in the end, we end up using the remainder of the rope and some chains from the <i>Niamh</i>, and have to just wade waist-deep through the swamp and literally pull the rafts after us.</p><p>No-one says it, but the five of us are the only reason we make the progress we do.  We're not the only Blessed in the group - there are probably half a dozen others all told - but none of them are as powerful as us.  We can pull one of the rafts single-handed without too much difficulty (Deanne finds it a little harder, but it's nothing she can't handle), and for much longer than a group of humans could last.  And especially at the start, with most of the Kantans nursing wounds of various severity (and so not wanting to expose their wounds to murky swamp water, since they don't have our immunity to disease), we have to.  The group's dependence on us diminishes as those less sorely wounded recover, but even by the end of our journey, barely a day goes by when one or another of us doesn't take a turn pulling one of the rafts.</p><p>But the biggest problem isn't making actual progress - it's <i>surviving</i>.  Food is pretty scarce out here - we manage to catch a few fish each day, but even adding in what of the mushrooms and other vegetation is edible, we usually end up on a two-day rota of getting a meal.  Water is less of an issue, though only because Carlei can start fires even on the sodden wood of the swamp to boil the water in.  One of the Kantan Blessed can create fresh water, the way Lyra could (my very first experience of Blessed magic, not that I realised it at the time), but not enough for everyone, and what water she can create is reserved for cleaning the wounds of the injured.</p><p>The one saving grace about the swamp is that medicinal plants grow <i>everywhere.</i>  It's a weird change from Joto - I'm used to seeing the colourful plants whose fruit tended to serve as everything from the basis of drinks to seasoning to side dishes, but in Kanto those plants are incredibly rare, and instead the kingdom is covered by unassuming-looking vegetation whose leaves and seeds have various medicinal uses - and this swamp is particularly known for them even by Kantan standards.  Supposedly, their prevalence was a prize that one of the Divines won from the Lord of the Dead millennia ago, which might explain why Corruption Blessed are more common here than anywhere else in the two kingdoms.</p><p>With all the medicinal herbs to hand, the people who've stepped up to help take care of the wounded manage to make sure no-one dies, but we're a pretty sorry group when we finally make it to Sekichiku.</p><p>Or, at least, the Kantans are.</p><p>When we were in Joto, it had just been the half-dozen of us most of the time, all Blessed of roughly equal power (excluding Lyra.)  The way our bodies had become fortified with Divine power had gone almost unnoticed as we slowly grew stronger.</p><p>It's only now that we're the significant minority in the group, having to watch the others struggle with things that barely faze us, that I realise just how strong we are.  Just how...inhuman.</p><p>And the Kantans know it too.  They know they need us, but we scare them.  I can't really blame them, but I'm very glad to see that even if their auras are still occasionally flecked with confusion when they see us - especially Carlei - getting our hands dirty alongside them, that fear diminishes as we travel, replaced by a strange, warm colour that's difficult to decipher.</p><p>I manage to tease a little more information out of them while we're travelling, as they get more used to us being around (and to the fact that we aren't the tyrannical overlords they'd been told.)  I'd thought I'd known about what happened in Kanto - more than most Jotans, anyway - after speaking to someone who'd been there at the time, when I accidentally teleported myself to an outlying island of the region, but talking to the Kantans now I quickly learn enough to realise that Evena had definitely toned down everything that had happened when she'd told me about it.</p><p>If I'd thought Jotans took the whole 'Blessed <i>Warrior</i>' thing to extremes, it's even worse in Kanto - though there's a little more to it than just strength.  When Giovanni had ruled Kanto, he'd declared war on a cluster of islands that were collectively known as Nanashima - ostensibly they'd always been a part of Kanto, but they'd been almost completely independent, and in his desire for greater power, Giovanni decided the centuries-old status quo had to change.</p><p>This was back before he went power-crazed, or at least before everyone knew he was power-crazed.  When he called for more recruits for his armies, people listened.  And the war was <i>brutal</i>, with massive casualties on both sides - the islanders were vastly outnumbered, but they were fighting on their home turf, and Giovanni and his generals were more than willing to just sacrifice squadron after squadron until it brought them victory, some ten years after the war started.  Giovanni used his new land to continue his research into Divine power and his experiments, and for a couple of months the conquered islands became the last bastion of Giovanni's rule after the Common King deposed him on the mainland - until the Common King drove them out of there too.  But by then the islanders were decimated.  They barely even exist as a culture any more - they tried to rebuild at first, with the aid of the Kantan nobles at the direction of the Common King...but then he vanished without a trace, and the Kantans started looking to recover themselves, not share their resources.</p><p>There's a massive schism among the Blessed of Kanto, between those who took part in the war against Nanashima, those who took part in the rebellion, those who took part in <i>both</i>, and a small minority that stayed away from the whole thing.  Relations between the three groups of combatants vary between individuals, ranging from strained to accepting, but none of them like the ones that stayed out of the fighting.  And since the ones that fought - the 'higher' Blessed, as they tend to be called - grew much, <i>much</i> stronger even without Giovanni's 'scientific' manipulations, there's nothing the 'lower Blessed' can do to stop them.  And this goes all the way from the travelling warriors to the great noble Houses of Kanto.</p><p>The one good thing I learn from all this is that not all the nobles of Kanto hate Carlei and her family as much as Janine does.  None of the people I speak to know <i>why</i> exactly she hates us so much - or at least, they're not willing to say - but it does at least become apparent that of the seven lords and ladies of Kanto, only three of them are overtly hostile to us: Brock, Janine, and Sabrina.</p><p>Sabrina's the lynchpin of it all.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised, if the suspicions I heard about her using Imperial magic to cause the so-called Sanguine Council, the event that had all but torn Joto and Kanto apart, are true.  She couches her statements, choosing her words carefully so that no-one could ever say she overtly spoke against the Imperial family, but as the unofficial leader of the lords and ladies of Kanto and probably the most powerful of the seven, so long as she stands against us, the Kantans will never accept Carlei as their queen.</p><p>A lot of the people I speak to are afraid of her.</p><p>When we eventually arrive at the gates of Sekichiku, we get a cold reception from the soldiers of House Fuchsia - or rather, the five of us do, and the Kantans suffer for it.  At least, up until word starts to spread from our party to the residents of the city that Janine's assassins had tried to destroy the vessel and the only reason anyone survived was because of us.</p><p>A lot of the soldiers and crew of the <i>Niamh</i> came from Sekichiku, and when the people of the city start to realise that Janine had been willing to sacrifice their friends, loves and families without the slightest care - exactly the same kind of cruelty Giovanni had been renowned for - opinion turns against her almost faster than we can follow.</p><p>Barely two hours after our arrival, the gates of the city are opened for us and the soldiers of the city march with us to Fuchsia Manor.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Our arrival isn't exactly subtle, and Janine has more than enough time to prepare.  So when we're shown through to the audience chamber by some very nervous-looking servants, she's sitting on an ornate chair, casual as anything.  "Your Majesties," she greets us, smoothly.  "How kind of you to come visit me, but I had thought you were expected at Otsukimi?"</p><p>Carlei laughs briefly, a short, mirthless sound.  "Are you so surprised your assassination attempt failed that you resort to pretending it never happened?"</p><p>"Assassination?"  She puts on a startled look that doesn't hide the malice in her eyes.  "Your Majesty, I am afraid you must be mistaken.  I would never countenance such a thing!"</p><p>"Then you did not accompany us onto the vessel that was once the Exile's flagship, and then abandon it before it was scuppered, leaving near a hundred innocent people to die?"</p><p>"Of course not!"  She stands up from her chair, flashing us a smirk that none of her courtiers see.  "Why...I have not left Sekichiku since word of your coronation reached us."</p><p>"There's about a hundred people who'd disagree," Magni points out.  "People from this city."</p><p>"Then they are liars and malcontents, paid to ferment discontent."  Janine gives a put-upon sigh, but I think she's running out of her pre-rehearsed retorts.  "But if you are so insistent that I am the one responsible, then how about this?  Lady Sabrina of House Saffron is a renowned practitioner of Imperial Magic.  I would be willing to submit to her magic to compel the truth - that I have not left this region in months - from my lips."</p><p>"And who would compel Sabrina to speak the truth?" Carlei replies.  "In any case, since she isn't here, I have a simpler resolution - one that relies upon no mortal.  Perhaps you could swear that you knew nothing of the attempt on my life, before the eyes of Lord Giratina, he who Chose you."</p><p>Janine pauses.</p><p>"You forgot to bow when we arrived.  Frankly, I wouldn't have cared either way," she admits, "but when someone who claims to be nothing but a loyal servant of the Imperial Crown forgets an element of etiquette that is drilled into us as children, I can't help but find it suspicious.  Were you too concerned with appearing not to be nervous - or surprised - at my arrival?"</p><p>"How about this one?" I add.  "Why don't you swear that you've been in Kanto the past week before the eyes of Lord Giratina?"  Carlei glances back to me with a raised eyebrow, but lets me run with my theory.  "If you're so confident Sabrina's magic would prove you're telling the truth, no harm in telling the truth now, right?"</p><p>"I..."</p><p>Deanne nods in understanding.  "Because you're not Janine, are you?"  She steps forwards.  "And you're not Blessed, either."  She gives Janine - or not-Janine, as the case may be - a gentle, almost sympathetic smile.  "You're a stand-in, just another innocent person for Janine to sacrifice to protect herself, just the same as she was willing to sacrifice all her citizens aboard the <i>Niamh</i>."</p><p>"I volunteered to do this!" the fake Janine snaps back, suddenly abandoning her act.  "To protect her from <i>you</i>."  She glares at Carlei.  "But she'd never let me get hurt."</p><p>"Really?" Gaius asks.  "I used to know someone back in the Imperial Guard a lot like Janine," he comments, absently.  "He always figured he was the smartest guy in the room, loved embarrassing people in front of their superior officers.  Thing is, he finally got caught out 'cos he always had to <i>be</i> there, always making sure everyone knew it was <i>him</i>.  And I'm betting Janine's much the same way, watching you and me right now, huh?  She promised she'd protect you?"</p><p>And then he clicks his fingers and a spire of rock erupts from the ground, tearing through the wooden floor and flying straight at the fake Janine.</p><p>Once upon a time I'd have been scared for his target, but for all his gruff attitude, and no matter how much he might like to pretend otherwise sometimes, I know Gaius is a good person.  He won't hurt her.</p><p>But they don't know that.</p><p>The rock doesn't hit her.  It just...stops, as she screams and cowers from it, floating just an inch or two away from her neck.  I can see Gaius's brow furrowed as he concentrates - he's never been good at manipulating free-standing earth and rock like this.</p><p>He makes another small gesture and the stone dissolves into sand, scattering across the audience chamber, as he walks towards the fake Janine.  "You're probably thinking that there was nothing Janine could've done to protect you there?" he asks her.  There's a definitely apologetic note to his voice.  "It was too fast?  No."  He offers her a hand up, but she ignores it and stays half-sprawled on the ground, glaring up at him, half angry, half afraid.  "For a Blessed, that was weak.  It wouldn't have done much more than scratch her if she'd <i>wanted</i> to protect you, even if all she'd done was get in the way.  But she didn't.  She chose to stay hidden, to protect herself, over protecting you.  And there's a whole lot of people from Sekichiku who can say that the Queen made the opposite choice, back on the <i>Niamh</i>."  He sighs, still holding out his hand to her.  "Janine might've forced you to pick sides, but it's up to you whose side you choose."</p><p>I can feel the pain and confusion in the woman's aura.  She knows Janine is here too - knows she could've protected her and didn't.</p><p>After a moment, hesitantly, she reaches out and takes his hand, letting him help her back to her feet.  And I can hear the whispering from the crowd, the people who'd come with us from the <i>Niamh</i> confirming what Gaius had said.  And then they start to move, drifting aside in a way that could almost be mistaken for random, idle shifting - except for the fact that they're all moving, drawing away from a single figure in their midst, who looks over at us with angry eyes.</p><p>"Janine, I presume?" Carlei asks, drily.</p><p>Janine doesn't say a word at first - she just launches herself at Carlei with a decorative fan slipping out of her sleeve and unfolding with a metallic sound, great butterfly-like wings snapping out from her back.  I pluck her out of the air mid-leap and trap her against the far wall, so she can't get any leverage to use her wings - though it doesn't stop her struggling furiously to escape.  "Let go!" she yells at me, as if I'm one of her obedient servants, and then realises how pointless it is to try to give us orders, embarrassment racing through her aura as she tries even harder to pull free.</p><p>"Now," Carlei says, firmly.  "I think you owe us an explanation."</p><p>"We don't owe <i>you</i> anything!" she spits back.  "Kanto deserves to rule itself, not be under the heel of yet another Imperial tyrant!"</p><p>"Maybe," Carlei nods, surprising Janine enough that she stops struggling.  "But that hardly explains trying to kill us, or trying to fill the minds of the people in the region with such vitriol."  She sighs, and walks closer to Janine.  "Why do you hate me so much?" she asks, quietly but very obviously in the silent room.</p><p>"Why do you <i>think</i>?!"  Carlei nudges me, mentally, and I let Janine go, but she doesn't attack, just stands up unsteadily, glaring at Carlei.  "After the Exile was overthrown by the Common King, my father just abandoned his people, abandoned his title - abandoned <i>me</i>, and my mother - all just so he could kiss Lance's feet and carve a fragment more political power for himself!</p><p>"I'd only barely received my Blessing when I saw the Common King, you know," she continues, more quietly.  "It was just after he and his followers had raided Yamabuki to free Lady Sabrina from the Exile's grasp.  My father was the only lord yet to swear fealty to the Common King - aside from Blaine, of course.  And he fought with every ounce of strength he had, every trick, every trap he'd ever taught me and many more besides.  Publicly, he claimed he was just testing the Common King, ensuring he had the strength to face the Exile, but he told me later he wasn't.  He would rather have kept the Exile in place, for all that terrible cruelty, than abandon his loyalty to <i>your</i> family!  And when the Common King met <i>your</i> father, to leave Kanto in his care, my father went with him.  And he never returned.  He never even deigned to say <i>goodbye</i>!  To his own family!</p><p>"Never even cared when my mother died."</p><p>Carlei is quiet for a long, few moments.  "I'm sorry," she says, softly, eventually.  "I'm sorry for what my father and my uncle have done, what they led your father to do.  But I promise, I will not rule Kanto as a tyrant the way they did."</p><p>"How can I believe you?" Janine asks, quietly.</p><p>"You can't," she admits.  "But you know the legends of the sacred pool of Otsukimi.  To bathe in its waters is to reveal the truth of one's soul to all.  All I'm asking is that you trust that I will submit to the judgement of the Divines, just as they decreed when they bestowed the crown to the first King of Tojo."</p><p>Janine looks past her, to the angry glares meeting her from the people of the city who are beginning to crowd in.  "Sabrina told us you were cunning, manipulative," she mutters, more to herself.  "I suppose to some extent I was expecting you to turn my people against me.  But..."</p><p>"But you know it was you that turned them against yourself."</p><p>Janine glares at Deanne, but doesn't deny it.  Then she looks back to Carlei, and sighs.  "I know you won't swear to cast aside your crown," she says, quietly.  "But...swear to me that you will at least genuinely weigh whether you are the right person to rule our kingdom."</p><p>"I swear," Carlei replies, evenly.</p><p>"...fine," she admits, gruffly.  "But don't expect the other lords and ladies to give in as readily as me."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The uneasy peace between us and Janine is still settling the next day; we don't exactly have the resources to arrest her, and while she might have destroyed the loyalty of most of the people of the city to her, there's a reasonable number of her soldiers and courtiers who still have some degree of loyalty to her - enough that if we <i>did</i> arrest her she probably wouldn't stay arrested for long.</p><p>The real Janine is younger than I'd expected, probably younger than I am.  Honestly I can't help but feel a bit sorry for her.  Her hatred of Carlei might be misplaced, but there's no denying that Koga was an asshole to her and her mother - assuming Janine told us the whole story, but I'm pretty sure she has.</p><p>We're invited to stay in Janine's manor as guests, but she doesn't seem all that surprised when we refuse and decide to stay in the Temple in the city instead.  Which is possibly my first real demonstration of what I'd been told about the Blessed of Kanto while we were travelling to the city.</p><p>In Joto, the Temples are always packed, and nowhere more so than the sparring and training arenas, with a jovial atmosphere permeating the area.  But here the atmosphere is a lot grimmer, less welcoming, and the stark divide between the people who fought in the war or the rebellion and those that didn't is blatantly obvious.  I'm pretty sure the ever-present priests are the only reason it doesn't devolve into a fight - that and the fact that unlike in Joto, the weaker Blessed don't dare challenge the stronger ones to sparring matches.</p><p>And all the people who'd told me the 'higher' Blessed were strong weren't kidding; a lot of the 'higher' Blessed in Sekichiku are around our strength.  Some are a bit weaker, some <i>much</i> stronger, strong enough that the very public support we've gotten from the crew of the <i>Niamh</i> - and the gratitude a lot of them have for protecting the people they care about - is the only reason it's safe for <i>us</i> to spar with them.  The fact we can hold our own against most of them earns us some respect, too - respect that we tend to immediately lose by standing up for the 'lower' Blessed when the 'higher' ones pick on them.</p><p>And the whole of Kanto is like this.  In Joto, the Fusube region had to some extent been the 'Blessed capital' of Joto; the most powerful Blessed tended to end up there, among their equals.  But that's not the case here.  Blessed who could've defeated almost any challenger in Joto are merely among equals in Kanto.</p><p>I guess this is what happens when a kingdom goes to war.  It's not a nice feeling.</p><p>A day and a half after our meeting with Janine, just after sunset, we get a rather unexpected visitor - quite literally - dropping out of the sky on us.  She plummets down, through the clouds, and crashes down into the nearby forests with a deafening bang that everyone in the city hears.</p><p>I'm not sure why it falls to us to go investigate.  Maybe because we're still viewed as more expendable than the people of the city who all have friends and loved ones who'd be worried about them, and more trustworthy than Janine.  A couple of the 'lower' Blessed we'd befriended the previous day offer to go with us, and as much as we know that if whatever this is turns out to be dangerous to us they'd only be in the way, we can't bring ourselves to turn them away, to treat them the same as the 'higher' Blessed of Kanto.</p><p>As it turns out, our concerns are unfounded anyway.</p><p>We don't actually make it to the crash site.  About half an hour after leaving Sekichiku, I start to feel an aura approaching us - I probably wouldn't have recognised it, but for the dark gouges like some spectral monster had torn at it.  There's only one person I've met with an aura like that.</p><p>Jasmine advances cautiously out of the undergrowth, her glaive and gauntlet manifested - though she lets the glaive disappear when she sees Carlei, and then a moment later Carlei runs forwards and half-tackles, half-hugs her tightly.</p><p>"Jasmine!" she beams, happier than I've seen her since Janine had appeared at the castle.  "What...that was <i>you?</i>  But what are you...how did you..."</p><p>Jasmine laughs softly - she's probably one of the only people in the kingdom who could get away with laughing at Carlei - but then her expression turns more serious.  "After we lost sight of you after the first night, we had assumed you had already moved ahead of us - the <i>Niamh</i> was far faster than our own vessels, after all.  But then we reached Otsukimi, and discovered that no word had been heard of you.  At first we thought that you might have been caught in a storm, or somehow accosted by bandits led by a Blessed powerful enough to strike at the <i>Niamh</i>, but...the Kantan lords and ladies delayed any decision we might have made.  Only Lord Garath appeared to be on our side - or at least, to not be overtly against us."  Which about matches what I'd been told about the nobility of Kanto.  "Eventually, his seneschal, along with myself, Bugsy and Amphy, decided to find you ourselves.  We stole one of the airships," she admits.</p><p>"<i>You</i> stole one of the airships?" Carlei interrupts, eyebrows raised.</p><p>Jasmine gives her an annoyed look that devolves quickly into an amused one.  "And since it was Janine responsible for separating you from the rest of us," she continues, "we thought it best to start here.  The others are returning to Otsukimi, to convince the rest of the nobles not to take any action until I return with news.  So...are you okay?"</p><p>"We're fine," Carlei nods.  "Janine..."  She trails off slightly.  "I think she's hated my family - Father and the Exile - for so long that she doesn't know how to stop, blaming us for the way Koga treated his family and the people of Sekichiku.  She had the <i>Niamh</i> destroyed.  It would've killed all the crew aboard if Ethan hadn't brought the vessel down safely."</p><p>Jasmine looks away from Carlei and over to me, questioningly.  "You lifted that entire airship with your powers?" she asks, sceptically.</p><p>"Uh...not exactly.  To be honest I don't know what I did."</p><p>That doesn't exactly seem to reassure Jasmine all that much.</p><p>It's the first time Jasmine and Carlei have really had the chance to talk since before the battle with Lance, and they spend most of the walk back to the city apologising to each other for their behaviour.  Jasmine's one of Carlei's oldest and closest friends, behind only Lyra and Amphy, and I know Carlei hated being opposed to her.  She's so happy to have her friend back that the waves of excitement and relief washing off her come through our mental link and make me smile too.</p><p>It isn't until we get back to the city, and Carlei has to reassure the guards that there's nothing to worry about, that I get a moment to speak to Jasmine alone.</p><p>She trusts me enough to follow me when I beckon her a short distance away from the others.  I've been trying to figure out how best to ask this the whole way back, and still haven't got an answer, so I settle for the simplest option.  "What's going on with your aura?" I ask, bluntly.</p><p>Jasmine gives me a confused look.</p><p>"It looks like..." I trail off for a moment, trying to figure out how to describe it.  "Like some darkness has got its claws into you."</p><p>That gets her attention, and she freezes for a moment.  "...oh," she says, very quietly, looking down at the ground.  Then she looks back up at me, with a fierceness in her eyes that reminds me a little of Carlei.  "Promise me you won't tell Carlei," she states - it's not exactly a request.</p><p>"Tell me first."  I don't like hiding things from Carlei, and I'm sure as hell not going to keep something from her if it might actually <i>matter</i>.</p><p>Jasmine holds my gaze for a moment.  I don't look away, and then she chuckles slightly.  "You really love her, don't you?" she asks, quietly, rhetorically.  Then she sighs.  "Obviously, you know that Shijima attacked Amphy.  You were the ones that saved him.  But it wasn't just Amphy he attacked.  As a Mithril Aspect, I would've been immune to even the toxin enhanced by the Grand Shrine's power.  But that does not make me immune to the Corruption Aspect outright.  He...he used the Shrine's power to strike at me with...a curse, I suppose you could call it.  The priests in Asagi had warned me of it, as soon as it happened, but it wasn't until I arrived in Yoshino and had the chance to consult Lord Emrys that I learned its full extent."</p><p>She takes a deep breath to calm herself before continuing.  "He said that my curse is that that I trust the most will betray me in my hour of need."</p><p>She doesn't need to look over at Carlei to make it clear who she trusts the most.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At Jasmine's urging, we leave Sekichiku the next day.  It would've been a hell of a lot easier if we could've just taken the airship that Jasmine arrived in, but since she and the others only got access to it thanks to Lord Garath, despite his purported neutrality, they decided it would be fairer to him if no-one knew it had ever gone.</p><p>The journey across Kanto takes us a good couple of weeks, bartering passage on one of the small trading vessels that regularly crosses the Kuchiba Strait into the Tamamushi region, and then north up to Otsukimi.</p><p>Despite my concerns, Jasmine fits in with the rest of us almost immediately.  It helps that she's one of Carlei's closest friends, of course, but she's genuinely so kind and generous it's hard not to like her, despite our previous conflicts - though I can't help but wonder how much of her friendly demeanour is her efforts to defeat her curse and stop Carlei 'betraying' her.  I don't tell Carlei about it, in the end.  Whatever Jasmine might have said, I know there's no way Carlei would betray one of her oldest friends.</p><p>It also becomes apparent very quickly that Jasmine is <i>strong</i>.  We never really saw what she was capable of back in Joto - she and Magni fought briefly, but the fight only lasted a couple of blows before getting interrupted - and we realise after the first day that she's probably more powerful than any of us.  And given how strong a lot of the Blessed in Kanto are, having some very powerful backup is welcome when we run into more aggressive opponents that decide to challenge us - to say nothing of having a new sparring partner who can take pretty much anything we throw at her.  I wouldn't be confident in saying she could take us all on at once, but I'm pretty sure that if Carlei or Magni sat out, the rest of us would have a hard time beating her - and even with their Aspect advantage, Jasmine can hold her own against either of them; she's learned to use a powerful shield of rock, a little like the one I've see Gaius use on occasion but <i>much</i> stronger.  She can only maintain it for a few seconds, but in those few seconds the five of us together can't even dent it.  In all the time we've been travelling, I think it's the first time I've ever seen Gaius actively ask for pointers from someone.</p><p>We don't get too close to any of the major settlements, for fear of being Carlei being recognised - it reminds me a lot of how we'd travelled around Joto, and not necessarily in a good way - but we still learn more than enough to make it clear that Sekichiku wasn't the only place that had been hurt by Giovanni and Lance.  The divide between 'higher' and 'lower' Blessed is even starker outside of the big settlements, perhaps unsurprising given that Blessed are a lot less numerous in the outlying areas.  On a couple of occasions we get mistaken for 'higher' Blessed, complete with all the views they hold, purely because of our power, and it takes a lot of careful explaining to reassure the 'lower' Blessed that we don't think less of them without giving away who we are.</p><p>Eventually, though, we arrive at the base of Otsukimi.</p><p>I've learned a bit about the holy mountain of Kanto while we've been travelling.  Aside from the sacred pool at its summit Carlei had mentioned, where the first crown of Tojo was supposedly forged from sunlight in its waters, there's a meeting hall carved into the stone, where the nobles from Kanto and Joto traditionally gathered for councils - at least until Lance decided to order the Kantan nobles to come to Joto instead.  A staircase has been carved across the entire mountain leading up there, though the base of the staircase is heavily guarded - originally by Imperial soldiers, though with Giovanni's downfall the role has now fallen to Brock by dint of him being the closest lord to the mountain.</p><p>In this instance, though, it's also guarded by Silver and his allies - Goban, Zane, Silas, Shukie, and even Kynaston.</p><p>As soon as he sees Carlei, Silver runs forward and hugs her, in a thoroughly uncharacteristic display of emotion.  "Thank the Divines you're okay."  Carlei flounders for a few moments before settling on just hugging him back, and he looks past her to the rest of us, eventually focusing on me.  "Thank you."</p><p>"Were you worried about me?" she asks, only half joking.</p><p>"We all were," Jasmine says quietly, from behind her.  "There's a reason no-one stopped me from coming to find you, even if they didn't outright help."</p><p>Silver nods.  "One thing Ampharal made clear to us - Kanto is dangerous, even for someone as powerful as you."  He lets her go, steps back, and gives a more formal bow.</p><p>"How did you even know we were going to get here today?" Magni asks him.</p><p>Silver chuckles slightly.  "Zane has been scouting for us since we arrived.  He told us you were coming long before you got here."  Then he sighs, looking down at the ground.  "I'm truly glad you're safe, Carlei.  But...I can't let you claim the crown of Kanto."</p><p>Carlei pauses.  "What do you mean?"</p><p>"You...you aren't the rightful heir.  Not to Kanto.  It would be a betrayal of my duties to the kingdoms to let you." </p><p>I look over to Jasmine, but she seems as puzzled as the rest of us.  "What are you talking about?" she asks.  "Carlei is Lance's eldest child."</p><p>"Yes, and Lance wasn't the rightful heir to the Exile King either."  Silver clenches his fists.  "I...the crown should never have passed to him.  And our laws are clear - if a true heir is discovered, the crown returns to the last true heir to the throne, <i>not</i> to the heir of someone who should never have been crowned."</p><p>"I know what our own laws are, Silver."  This feels all too familiar - Carlei and Silver on opposite sides of an argument - but at the same time there's something...different, here, the whirling maelstrom of emotions, stress and fear and sadness across Silver's allies that I never felt from them before.  "But none of that explains why Father should not have been the Exile's heir.  The Exile had no children, and so the crown reverts to his brother on his abdication."</p><p>"I...can you not just <i>trust</i> <i>me</i> when I tell you?" Silver protests.  He's still looking at the ground, unable to meet her gaze.</p><p>"How can I just take something like that on trust?!"  Carlei glares at him.  "I <i>do</i> trust you, Silver, of course I do, but I can't abandon my duties as Queen based on...what, a rumour?  If Father should not have been the Exile's heir, then who <i>should</i>?"</p><p>"Me," Silver says, so quietly we barely hear him.</p><p>"What's that supposed to mean?  What tortuous logic leads you to believe that -"</p><p>"<i>Because Lance wasn't my father</i>!"  He almost shouts it, and it's the pain in his voice as much as the words that stuns Carlei into silence.  "Lance wasn't my father," he repeats, more quietly.</p><p>"Giovanni was."</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Carlei literally stumbles back, as though Silver had struck her. "Wha...tha..."  She shakes her head.  "That's not possible!"  Flames begin to crackle into life across her body.  "Mother would <i>never</i> have betrayed Father.  Who told you this?!"</p><p>"Janine, first -"</p><p>"<i>Janine</i>?!"  Carlei scoffs.  "You mean, the same person who orchestrated an attempt on my life?!  You believed <i>her</i>?"</p><p>Silver pauses.  "I...I had no idea she was behind what happened to you," he promises.  "But no, I didn't believe her word alone.  She told me to consult her father.  He confirmed it."</p><p>"<i>Koga</i> knew?"  The flames around Carlei are almost white-hot now, her entire body tense like she's about to spring at Silver when I put an arm around her.  "He <i>knew</i>, and he said nothing?"</p><p>"He said...it was to protect me and Mother alike.  That it was better Lance never knew."  Silver might not have such a blatant display of emotions as Carlei, but I can feel waves of icy chill radiating from him, quashing Carlei's heat easily.</p><p>"And you -"</p><p>I step between Carlei and Silver - I'm not worried about her physically attacking him, but I'm less convinced that she would manage to refrain from saying something she'd later regret - or that Silver wouldn't say anything more to hurt her.  "Give us a minute?" I ask Silver, who seems only too happy to not have to have this argument with his sister - or rather, half-sister.</p><p>I take Carlei's hands in mine and lead her a few steps away.  I know she wouldn't let anyone else move her - hell, no-one else would even be able to <i>touch</i> her right now.  "What?!" she hisses up at me, and I can hear the pain in her voice when she realises she's snapping at me.</p><p>"How long was Silver fighting us, going against what he believed in, because of his duty as a son to the man he thought was his father?  And now it turns out that Lance was never his father at all, that everything he did might as well have been for nothing."  I feel her grip on my hands tighten.  "You're not the only one this is hurting."</p><p>"I <i>know</i> that.  I just..."  She trails off, and I hug her, tightly, and she presses her head against my shoulder, eyes closed, and I can feel her crying.  I know how much she loved her mother, and on top of Janine getting the Kantan flagship named after her and then destroyed...I can barely even begin to imagine how much this is hurting her.</p><p>After a couple of minutes, she raises her head.  "Silver?" she asks.  "What...what are you going to do?"</p><p>"...I don't know," he admits, quietly.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We walk in silence up the winding staircase hewn into the mountain.  Here and there, carved likewise into the stone, are inscriptions and engravings, telling of the history of Tojo, the legendary feats of past rulers and heroes alike.  We barely even glance at them, drawn upwards as though by some inexorable force, Carlei and Silver at the head of our party.</p><p>I don't know how long the climb takes - an hour, maybe two?  The time is as inconsequential as the carvings in the face of what we've learned, of what might happen when we reach the council chamber at Otsukimi's peak.  I can feel the worry, the uncertainty, suffusing the dozen of us, boiling and flowing around us all, and the one person whose decision could decide the fate of both nations is completely unreadable to my powers, his Champion aura as impenetrable to my senses as it has always been.</p><p>I see, rather than sense, when he comes to a decision, a scant few moments before we arrive, as he raises his head slightly, squares his shoulders as though he's about to march into battle.</p><p>It's the first time I've seen the other lords and ladies of Kanto.  Janine isn't there, of course, and there's another empty seat on the Kantan half of the great round table, but the remaining five seats are occupied.  I've learned enough about the Kantan lords and ladies to recognise them by description - the bored-looking young woman who seems more interested in conjuring small animated critters out of water to scuttle around her part of the table must be Misty, the tall, muscular man next to her Brock, the guy at the far end of the table who gives us a nod of greeting Garath, the older woman sitting with perfect poise and her arms demurely folded in front of her Erika...and then Sabrina, right at the centre of the Kantan side of the table.  She seems more interested in reading the scroll in front of her, but I can feel her powers monitoring the auras of everyone in the room, just the same as I can.  I put a barrier up around me and Carlei and feel her aura spike in anger before she realises that I can read auras too and shields herself in exactly the same way.</p><p>The High Priest of the Faith is there as well, standing in the centre of the room, dressed in the same ceremonial garb he'd worn to preside over our wedding.  "Your Highnesses," he greets us, instantly silencing the faint chatter from the lords and ladies on both sides of the table, as Jasmine returns to her seat on the Jotan side.  Amphy's standing behind her chair, not meeting our eyes.</p><p>Carlei bows to the High Priest (and I remember to do the same this time.)  "Please accept my humblest apologies for our delay in arriving, High Priest.  I was the target of an assassination attempt, and so our journey took longer than expected."</p><p>No-one looks surprised - the Jotans suspicious, the Kantans more frustrated than anything else, and I don't dare try to read the High Priest's aura.  "I see," Oak nods, ambivalently.  "I would trust that none who call themselves nobility would disgrace their title by taking up arms against the rightful Queen of Joto."  His tone is as warm and friendly as ever, but I feel a ripple of...maybe not fear, but definitely <i>discomfort...</i>run through the nobles.</p><p>"Regrettably," Carlei answers, "Lady Janine of House Fuchsia was a part of this attempt on my life.  However, I believe that both that she did not act alone, and that she was manipulated into her actions by the true mastermind behind the plot."  She very carefully doesn't look at Sabrina.  "With your permission, High Priest, I would forgive her her transgressions in exchange for her future loyalty."</p><p>"Meaning no offence, Highness," Sabrina purrs, "but you are not yet the Queen of Kanto.  Such decisions are not yet yours to take."</p><p>Carlei frowns briefly.  We both know she wouldn't have made a mistake like that if not for the worry of what Silver's going to say.  Or do.  "Of course.  In which case, might we move on to the reason we are gathered here?"</p><p>Oak nods, and in a very ceremonial movement, raises his staff up and raps it on the ground, once.  "According to the laws of Tojo, as written eons ago by the mortal rulers of the land at the behest of the Divines, the crowns of Kanto and Joto will - unless their bearer wills otherwise, and with the approval of the Divines - pass to the bearer's eldest child should they pass into the Halls of the Dead or give up their crown.  Should they have no child, the crown would in turn pass to their eldest surviving sibling.  As confirmed by the records of lineage of Kanto and Joto, this makes Queen Carlei of Joto the rightful heir to the crown of Kanto.  Are there any of noble birth who would speak before she faces the trial of the Divines?"</p><p>"I would."  Silver steps forward, his voice carefully measured and cold.  "With your permission, High Priest?"  Oak nods, and vacates the space in the centre of the table for Silver to occupy instead.  Silver sighs, letting his eyes brighten into the unnerving, glowing blue of his Champion powers.  "Shortly before arriving here, I was informed of rumours about my parentage, about whether it is I and not Carlei who ought to bear the crown of Kanto.  No doubt these rumours have surfaced now as another facet of the plot against her, having been kept carefully secret near twenty years - which I presume is why none of you seem surprised at this news," he adds, looking at the Kantan nobles.  None of them are foolish enough to try to meet his gaze with his eyes glimmering with Suicune's power.  He blinks, and the glow in his eyes is gone again.</p><p>"I don't know if the Exile King was my father, and whatever they may claim I doubt any here could answer the question with utter certainty.  All those who could are dead or gone.  But know this.  Here, in the council chamber that was once held by the last King of Tojo, for the first time in centuries we have the chance to bring Kanto and Joto together again.  And I will not be used as an excuse to tear the kingdom apart.</p><p>"If I have any claim to the throne of Kanto over Carlei, let that claim be null and void."</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A stunned silence permeates the council chamber.  The Jotan nobles seem completely caught off-guard by the revelation that Silver is Giovanni's son.  Most of the Kantans are trying to present carefully-neutral expressions, except for Garath, who looks relieved, and Sabrina, who looks <i>pissed</i>.  I notice Oak giving Silver a small, approving smile before he steps forwards and resumes speaking.</p><p>"Then, Her Highness Queen Carlei of Joto is recognised as the true heir to the throne of Kanto."  He taps his staff on the ground again.  "Should the Divines declare her worthy, and the gathered nobility accept her character, she will be crowned Queen of Kanto and Tojo."</p><p>I'm not allowed to stay with Carlei for this - like all the other nobles, all I can do is watch and wait.  It's the first time in months either of us have faced anything major alone, and I hate it.  But this is a test of her character, not mine.</p><p>The ceremony itself is simple enough.  We journey up to the summit of Otsukimi, where there's a sacred pool that's supposedly purified by the moon's light each night, and the true nature of all those who submerge themselves in it is revealed to all those who stand in the circle of stones - at least, as long as the person submerging themselves is 'worthy.'  According to legend, if one not worthy of rule steps into the pool, it drowns them.  As much as I've learned that not all the myths and legends about the Divines are false, given that Lance and Giovanni managed to be crowned despite the pool, I'm not convinced.</p><p>We arrange ourselves around the circle of stones - the five Kantan nobles who are here, the eight Jotan ones, plus Silver as Carlei's closest living relative and me as Carlei's husband - and Carlei steps into the pool.</p><p>The first part of the legend is true, at least.  The pool glows and erupts in kaleidoscopic light that plays over us, bringing with it half-fragmented snatches of memory.  It's like my ability to read auras, but amped up to eleven, and I can feel the others - especially the newer lords and ladies who didn't take part in the ceremonies for Lance or Giovanni and so didn't know what it would be like - stumbling as they try to keep their cool under the whirling projection of Carlei's aura.  I just let it wash over me and barely feel it.  I know her far better than the pool's magic could ever reveal, and love her far too much for her aura to bother me.</p><p>The water of the pool flows off Carlei as she leaves, trickling back into the pool and leaving her and her clothes bone dry and it as still as it ever was, and she stands next to Oak and faces the rest of us, conjuring her mithril sword and angling it so the tip is resting on the ground.</p><p>The rule is simple: those who are willing to be ruled by the prospective King or Queen, once they've seen what the pool wants them to see, kneel to her.  Those that kneel must outnumber those that remain standing by two to one for the coronation to be approved - though in practice, once it becomes obvious that a ruler is going to be crowned, those who would otherwise have stayed standing tend to kneel to avoid being immediately targeted by the new King or Queen.</p><p>Half the Jotan lords and ladies were appointed to their position by Carlei, and we're friends with three of the remainder (including Jasmine), so the only potential holdout on that side is Clair, but she kneels just the same.  I realise with a little jolt that because Silver and I are counted too, we don't even <i>need</i> the Kantans - even if they all remained standing, since they're missing two of their seven, Carlei would be crowned either way.  And they know it too - Garath kneels to Carlei the same time as the rest of us, shortly followed by Erika.  Misty very obviously looks around to count the numbers before kneeling as well, which just leaves Sabrina, who looks even more pissed than she did after Silver's speech but kneels down as well, with Brock just a moment behind her.</p><p>"Then it is done," Oak declares, turning to Carlei.  "As per the ancient laws of Tojo, I crown you Carlei, Queen of Tojo."</p><p>It seems such a simple thing for how big a deal it is.  Lance was crowned here as the King of Kanto, but he was never accepted as the King of Tojo because the laws of Tojo only allow a Blessed to take the throne (and include a clause forcing Blessed to <i>demonstrate </i>their Blessing).  So Carlei is the first ruler of Tojo for <i>centuries</i>.</p><p>Somehow in the short time we were away from the council chamber, it's been rearranged a bit, the two great thrones on either side of the table replaced by a single throne at its head, with a smaller throne for me just to the side.</p><p>"So," Carlei says, once we're all sat down at our chairs again.  "As I was saying before Lady Sabrina kindly reminded me of the proper order of ceremonies, I intend on forgiving Janine for her actions.  A more important, matter, however, is finding whoever orchestrated the plot against me."</p><p>"Quite," Sabrina nods.  "And at the risk of stating the obvious, Your Majesty, it is not merely Janine who failed to fulfil their duties by not attending your coronation.  Field-Marshal Matis, too, is absent."</p><p>"I'd heard he was unwell?" Misty asks.</p><p>"I had <i>heard</i> that as well, yes.  But," Sabrina adds, in a tone that just barely manages to avoid being patronising, "given that Her Majesty believes that Janine was not the mastermind behind the assassination attempt, the Field-Marshal - as the apparent only other one to see no reason to attend Her Majesty's coronation - seems the most likely suspect to me.  Anyone else?"</p><p>She has the Kantans wrapped around her little finger, just as I'd been told by the people of Sekichiku - both through loyalty and fear.  None of them disagree with her judgement.  And though the Jotans are obviously more suspicious of her, none of them have the courage to go against her either.</p><p>"I am loath to accuse a noble of Tojo of treason without permitting him the chance to defend himself," Carlei says.  "But your point is valid, Sabrina."</p><p>Sabrina gives a beatific smile.  "We can be there within a day, with the airships," she offers.</p><p>"No."  Sabrina blinks, evidently caught off-guard.  "To arrive with great pomp and circumstance would be to alert Matis - if he is indeed responsible and not truly unwell - and give him the opportunity to cover his tracks.  Instead, my companions and I will travel in secret to Kuchiba by way of Tamamushi.  The only ones who will know the truth until we arrive are those of you in this chamber now."</p><p>So if anyone knows we're travelling there, Carlei will have proof that someone in the chamber is part of the plot.</p><p>Sabrina doesn't realise the trap Carlei's laying for her.  "If that is what you think best, Your Majesty."</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We decide not to leave Otsukimi immediately, spending the night resting in the noble quarters at the base of Otsukimi, trusting that Sabrina wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything when suspicion would immediately fall on her - and we're right, though I notice her still trying to read our auras.  Goban, much better at the 'anti-Imperial magic' thing than me, masks us all from her, and I can't help but take a little pleasure in the occasional flashes of frustration I can feel pinging from her aura as she tries - and fails - to keep tabs on us.</p><p>It's just before we all retire for the night that we get an unexpected visitor.  Pretty much as soon as Carlei opens the door to Amphy and lets him in, he kneels down and bows low to her.  It reminds me a lot of the last time we'd spoken to him - but this time he doesn't stick with any of the formalities in his speech.  "I'm sorry!" he murmurs, his voice already quiet and half muffled by the floor, making it hard to hear him.</p><p>"Uh..."  Carlei flounders for a moment.</p><p>"I should...I should have been there, on the <i>Niamh</i>."  He looks up slightly, but he doesn't meet Carlei's gaze.  "What if you'd been hurt?"</p><p>Carlei sighs, sitting down in front of him.  "We're fine, Amphy.  Everyone survived.  We weren't even hurt."</p><p>"But what if you <i>hadn't</i> been?"  He leans back up, but he stays kneeling.  Carlei reaches over and puts a hand on his shoulder.  I'm not entirely sure he even notices.  "You're my Queen.  It's my duty to stand by you, and I neglected it."</p><p>"I don't want people to get hurt because they think they have a duty to me," Carlei says, quietly.</p><p>"<i>And</i> you're my friend.  And Lyra would be furious at me for abandoning our friends to...to <i>mope</i>."</p><p>It's the first time he's said her name since she died.</p><p>"So, I'm coming with you.  Besides..."  He hesitates.  "I <i>know</i> Field-Marshal Matis.  Or...at least I did.  Perhaps even more than strategy and intellect, loyalty was something he made a great effort to drill into us at the academy.  Even if it was something we personally disagreed with, he demanded we obey our duties of loyalty to our liege lords.  Even if he doesn't believe you're the rightful queen, the man who trained me would not turn against you - at worst, I might have expected him to publicly challenge you, not skulk around playing politics.   As his student, I have to know the truth.  Whether he believed anything he taught us."</p><p>Carlei leans forward and hugs him briefly.  "You aren't going to give me a choice about this, are you?"</p><p>He gives her a small smile.  "Absolutely not."</p><p>Silver doesn't come with us, instead deciding to stay to keep an eye on Sabrina and Brock.  I have to admit, I'd have felt a little happier if he'd stuck with us - he's not invulnerable, but he's a hell of a lot stronger than us, and Goban and the rest of his allies aren't exactly helpless either.</p><p>But even without Silver, we have the advantage of foreknowledge.  We know Sabrina will probably send more attackers after us while we travel to Kuchiba, and if she knows we're ready for her she does a damn good job of hiding it before we depart.</p><p>So now all we can do is wait for her to strike.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We expect our roundabout journey to Kuchiba to take us a couple of weeks.  If whoever Sabrina sends our way is as underwhelming as Janine's assassins, there isn't going to be much of a threat, but we're cautious anyway.  We stay as a single group as much as possible, make sure to not let ourselves get caught alone, camp outside the towns we pass rather than in the Temples...</p><p>And in the end, it doesn't matter.</p><p>We're about halfway through our journey.  Gaius, Magni and Deanne have gone into the village to buy supplies while the rest of us set up camp and keep a lookout to make sure we haven't been followed.</p><p>They've been gone too long.  We all know it.  None of us want to say it.</p><p>When they eventually return, it's with Magni and Deanne all but carrying Gaius between them.  He's barely even able to grip onto their shoulders to keep himself up, and the left side of his beige robes are stained with blood.</p><p>For a moment we just stare, blankly.  How can Gaius, of all people, be the one who's been hurt?</p><p>"<i>Help him</i>!" Magni all but shouts at us, breaking the spell.</p><p>"What happened!?" Carlei snaps, as they lower Gaius down carefully.</p><p>"They knew we were coming," Magni growls.  "Knew who we were, how we fight...everything."</p><p>"I...I can't heal him," Deanne whispers, quietly.  "The healing totems just...don't work."</p><p>Carlei tries anyway, red-and-gold light playing over Gaius - and he convulses, jolting and writhing, making us jump back in surprise.  The grass around him is beginning to turn red with his blood.  "Wha...what is this?"</p><p>"Don't..."  Gaius's voice is so weak we can barely hear him.  "Don't waste your supplies."  He opens his eyes slightly, looking up at us.  "They won't work.  Even the...priests can't heal this."  Carlei carefully pulls his robe aside to reveal a spire of rock, thrumming with magical energy, embedded in his side.  "Long as the rock's there, it takes your...Blessing away and only a Blessed can...survive the injury."</p><p>"There has to be <i>some</i> way!  If we destroy the rock, your powers will return, won't they?"</p><p>He shakes his head slightly.  "Earth Aspect.  Might as well try to...destroy the world itself.  Corruption has Oblivion.  We have this."  He sighs, closing his eyes again.  "You should...get out of here.  Ain't like that blood trail's gonna be...hard to follow."</p><p>"NO!" Carlei retorts.  "We won't just...abandon you and leave you to die alone!  We...we owe you that much, at least."</p><p>"You don't owe...me anything, Princess."  Gaius reaches over, puts one bloodstained hand on hers briefly.  "Serving you...helping to make Tojo a better place...it's more than I could ever...have dreamed."</p><p>Carlei looks around, hoping desperately that one of us might have the answer, a solution.  Some way to save him.  But the only thing I can see is that what he said is true.  The spire is taking its energy from the earth around us.  Maybe within the few seconds after it hit him, it could have been broken.  But not now.  Eventually her gaze falls on Amphy.  "How...how long does he have?"</p><p>"A few hours, maybe," he replies, quietly.</p><p>I close my eyes, reaching out with my powers, muting the red flashes of pain in Gaius's aura.  He's one of the few people I've ever used my telepathic abilities on, and I've regretted doing it ever since I did.  This is the least I can do.</p><p>Gaius opens his eyes, briefly, tilts his head to look over at me.  "Thanks, kid," he murmurs.</p><p>He'd been keeping one fist clenched tight this whole time, but as he relaxes, his grip slackens and a small, metal object falls onto the ground.  Amphy leans over and picks it up carefully.  "The Blessed that...attacked us.  They each had one...of those.  Managed to...grab it."</p><p>Amphy's aura crackles with anger and pain.  "What is it?" I ask.</p><p>He holds it out for me to see - an emblem shaped like an eight-point star, made maybe from copper or bronze, small enough to serve as a cufflink.  "I know who did this," he says, flatly - and reaches into his pocket and pulls out an identical emblem of his own.  "These emblems...it's never mentioned officially, but they're given to graduates of the Field-Marshal's academy.  There were always rumours that he used his old students as spies, thugs...even assassins, if that was what the kingdom needed.  That these emblems let them recognise each other even if they'd never met before.  It was Matis."</p><p>"This..."  Deanne's voice is so pained, so hurt, that we all look over at her.  "This is my fault."</p><p>"What are you talking about?" Magni retorts.  "It's Matis's fault, Amphy just said that!"</p><p>"No, I..."  Deanne trails off for a few moments.  "You didn't see.  You were too busy fighting to protect us.  Protect me.  But I "  She holds out her hand and her rapier appears in a flash of blue flame.  "The last time I drew this in anger was against Lance, and..."  She shudders, remembering the overwhelming power that had crashed down on us.  "And even before then, I never fought with you.  Not against any real danger.  The Paladins weren't trying to hurt us, and nor was Silver, but...I've just been...too scared.  And when it came down to it, I...couldn't.  I just froze."  She looks down, unwilling to meet our gazes.  "That spear of rock was aimed for me, not Gaius.  But he saved me.  And now he's dying.  Just because I was afraid."</p><p>"Hey."  Gaius's voice is firmer, more commanding, and Deanne looks at him almost instinctively and can't look away as he raises his head to meet her gaze.</p><p>"Gaius, I...I'm so sorry!"</p><p>"Stop it.  Being scared is normal.  You think the rest of us are never scared?"</p><p>"The rest of you don't freeze when someone attacks you," Deanne says, in a voice that can barely be called anything but a whimper.</p><p>Except I have, in the past.  And because of it I might be responsible for someone dying too.</p><p>"You want to apologise...to me?  To...make up for it?"</p><p>"<i>Of course</i> I do!  If there was anything I could do, I'd -"</p><p>"Then don't...let it consume you.  Next time...if you get into another fight...don't stand there tellin' yourself 'I froze last time, I can't help this time.'  You...you can always make a difference."</p><p>"But what if I -"</p><p>"<i>Promise me</i>."  Gaius's head falls back to the grass, but he's still listening.</p><p>"I..."  Magni reaches over and wraps an arm around her, hugging her gently.  After a moment, Carlei reaches out and puts a hand on Deanne's shoulder too.  "I swear it.  Under the gaze of Lady Dialga, she who Chose me as her warrior."</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gaius dies later that night.</p><p>Consciously, I know there's nothing we can do, that this Earth magic is designed to kill Blessed every bit as surely as the Oblivion spell that Goban had told me about once was designed to destroy creatures of Chaos.  But...somehow, I still thought we'd find a way - that my powers would do...<i>something</i>.  But they don't.  Whatever power I'd tapped into on the airship is gone - or at least, locked away the way it always has been - and nothing I try even comes close to feeling that level of power, of control.</p><p>It's not the first time we've lost someone, but I've never had to bury someone before, seen them so still, so cold.  Lyra's funeral was all formal, more of a political statement than anything else, and she was arranged in an ornate casket long before the service started.  But here we don't have a coffin, or priests to read the rites, and if anything my powers are a curse, telling me all too acutely the absence of life and soul in Gaius's body.</p><p>Somehow I never thought he'd die.  Lyra - and now Jasmine, and maybe Carlei too - might have been stronger than him in terms of sheer power, but he had more experience fighting than any of us.  I always thought he'd find a way to survive, somehow, and give us all a gruff, disappointed-sounding lecture.</p><p>The assassins that had attacked don't come after us.  I'm not sure whether to be glad or worried, but it means we can at least bury him with some modicum of respect.</p><p>And then we do the only thing we can, and carry on, quiet, subdued...angry.</p><p>Gaius's death hits us all hard, but I'm worried about Deanne.  Ever since she made that oath, her aura has become a tangle of emotions so complicated I can't decipher it, but the day after his funeral, when we start training again in an attempt to put what had happened out of our minds, she throws herself into it with a fierce determination that's totally unlike anything I've seen from her before.  I can't say that the rest of us are completely cool-headed, but Deanne's fighting becomes a lot more reckless than before.  It doesn't help that she's the weakest of the group, and the rest of us have to hold back a lot more to avoid hurting her when she overextends.</p><p>On the rare occasion we spar with people outside the group, few of them show her the same courtesy.</p><p>"Can't you talk to her?" I ask Carlei quietly one night, when we're just a couple of days outside Kuchiba.</p><p>She rolls over to meet my gaze.  "Why me?"</p><p>"Well..."  I shift slightly.  "You did the same thing.  Back in Kikyo.  I thought..."  I shrug.  "You might be able to get through to her."</p><p>Carlei sighs, leaning back, resting her head in the crook of my arm.  "There's a difference," she replies, softly.  "I was angry at myself, and in some way I wanted to punish myself for what I perceived as my failing to protect you.  But consciously, I knew that what I was doing was foolish, that there was no purpose to it.  I suppose I was just too stubborn to acknowledge it until you scolded me for it."  She gives me a small, warm smile.  Somehow, even if we were both fugitives, hiding from everyone, I miss how things were back then.</p><p>Back before anyone had died.</p><p>"But while to some extent I think Deanne wants to punish herself for what she sees as causing Gaius's death," Carlei continues, "in the same way I had, at the same time she believes that pushing herself into danger is the only way to break that hold that fear has on her.  She has a very real reason for fighting as recklessly as she is, and until she comes to terms with that fear, I don't think anyone will sway her from that path."</p><p>That I can understand, at least.  I'd been afraid, too.  Afraid of Gaius, of the people that attacked us, even of Carlei, once upon a time, though I know now I never had any cause to be - not that fear is ever so logical as to be affected by whether there's any reason to be scared.  It had been the confidence of my newfound Blessing and the desire to protect someone else that had...maybe not driven the fear away for me, but at least allowed me to fight despite my fear.</p><p>I wish I could just use my powers and take Deanne's fear away, the way I took away Gaius's pain.  But even if I've read old tales of Imperial Blessed doing exactly that, I know enough about my telepathy to know that manipulating emotions isn't as simple as the stories make out.</p><p>"I just...I don't want anyone else to get hurt," I say.  It comes out almost like a whimper.</p><p>"I know."  Carlei reaches over and strokes my head, gently.  "But Deanne will come to terms with what happened in her own time," she says, still quietly but with a firm confidence.  "Trust her that much.  The best we can do is to be there for here when she wants us to be."</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The anger at Gaius's death hasn't left us by the time we arrive in Kuchiba.  If anything, the journey has left us more pent up and stressed than before.</p><p>If anyone recognises us, they don't show it, but there's an <i>edge</i> in the atmosphere in the city.  People keep to the sides of the streets, alternating between keeping their heads down and looking around nervously.  I hear snatches of whispered conversation about the academy as we pass.  The people of Kuchiba are clearly expecting trouble, and they must know we're coming.</p><p>Matis obviously knows we're coming too.  The entire academy is deserted - and recently, at that.  I can still feel the faint traces of emotion left behind by the students as they evacuated.  The faint traces of <i>fear</i>.</p><p>I don't like people being afraid of me.  It reminds me too much of what happens when that malevolent side of my powers takes over.</p><p>Matis isn't even trying to hide.  He's in the centre of the academy, in a big sparring arena just like the ones we're so used to seeing in the Temples, although this one doesn't have any priests standing by to heal people after the matches, and the arena is littered with random junk - twisted metal and wood, maybe the remnants of old shipwrecks.</p><p>At first I think someone else is already attacking him, but it only takes a couple of seconds to realise that he's just running through combat forms.  He reminds me far too painfully of Gaius.  His hair is a pale, almost silvery blonde instead of dark brown, and he's obviously wearing his heraldry - striped robes like a tiger with a Roman-style mohawk helmet - but he has the same kind of tall, muscular build, and while he's a lot quicker than Gaius, even the way he fights is similar, cautiously, never overextending himself, always ready to react.</p><p>He obviously knows we're here, but he doesn't react to our appearance at first, just calmly continuing with his training.  <i>He's</i> not afraid of us, at least.</p><p>"At least <i>look</i> at us!" Deanne bursts out, after maybe half a minute.  Her sword blazes into her hand, dripping with blue flames.</p><p>Matis pauses, briefly, and glances back at her.  And then he turns back and keeps training, though he switches to a slower, more methodical style.  "Nothing I can do to stop you killing me," he comments, casually.  "Not much point me trying to."</p><p>"We're not here to kill you," Carlei retorts.</p><p>"You should be," Matis says, coolly.  "Unless you came here to surrender to me."</p><p>"Don't be absurd!" Deanne shouts at him.  "You...you killed our friend!  Why would we <i>surrender</i> to you?"</p><p>Matis sighs, relaxing, and leans back against one of the twisted lumps of wood, taking a swig from a waterskin he'd placed on it.  "So you'd be the one who he died to protect, then."  Deanne freezes, but the flames on her sword grow bigger and wilder.</p><p>"How d'you know that?" Magni demands.  "No way the guy we took on could've gotten here before us."</p><p>"Because the one who attacked you wasn't the only one of his agents who was there at the time," Amphy says.  He might not be as overtly angry as Deanne, but I know him well enough by now to hear the clipped edge in his tone.  "He had another, watching and reporting back on your capabilities."</p><p>"Glad to see you haven't abandoned -"</p><p>"Don't," Amphy snaps.  "Don't act like you're the same man who taught me and everyone else at this academy that loyalty to your liege was the greatest virtue a warrior could possess.  You don't have the right to be him any more."</p><p>"Maybe not," Matis admits.  "But either way - if you aren't here to kill me, and you aren't here to surrender to me, what's the point of you coming here?"</p><p>"<i>Why</i>?  Why did you do this?  Abandoning the coronation, sending your old students to attack your Queen...all of it."</p><p>Matis looks down at the ground for a few moments.  "I never wanted to be the Field-Marshal of Kanto, you know," he says.  "I'm a strategist, maybe, a soldier, definitely.  But I'm not a leader.  At least, not the kind the Exile wanted, the kind who'd be willing to throw away the lives of his people for an inch of bloodstained ground.  But I was scared.  Maybe I saw what he was becoming before anyone else did, or maybe just no-one else cared.  So I obeyed him.  Do you know how many people I sent to war in the isles of Nanashima?  How many I sent to die?"</p><p>None of us say anything.</p><p>"Seventy-three thousand, five hundred and eighty-two.  Seventy-three thousand, five hundred and eighty-two loyal soldiers who cheered as I gave them grand speeches about how they were serving the Divine-chosen King."  His hand, still holding the waterskin, shakes slightly, and he claps his other hand over it.  "I tried to protect them.  To protect everyone I could.  I sealed off the academy to keep my students safe, tried to convince the Exile to fight more slowly, more cautiously...but in the end, all those deaths are on my hands."</p><p>The flames around Deanne begin to diminish as Matis looks back up at us.  "I'm tired of war," he says, softly.  "Tired of people dying in their droves for a ruler's pride.  I am sorry about your friend," he adds, and I think he means it.  "But when Sabrina spoke to us, told us that the Princess had no right to rule Kanto...I could see another war approaching - and this one on our own shores.  So yes, I did whatever I could to avert that, to bring an end to it before it started."</p><p>"By joining Sabrina?" Carlei interjects.  "What makes you think <i>she's</i> the rightful ruler of Kanto?"</p><p>"I don't.  You, Sabrina, the Prince...none of you are.  The Common King is the true ruler of Joto, but the Divines spirited him away for greater things.  And in his absence...you don't stand a chance against Sabrina.  She will win.  The only question is how fast and how bloodily."</p><p>"You don't know that."</p><p>"You don't know <i>her</i>."</p><p>"So you're just going to do the same thing you did with Giovanni?" Amphy asks.  "Just smile and bow, and join Sabrina because you're too scared to turn against her?  Without even giving us a <i>chance</i>?"</p><p>I can still see Matis's hands trembling.  "There's no point to giving you a chance.  It's just as with the coronation.  Garath was always going to side with you, so once Janine let it be known that she wasn't going to attend at all, I had three options.  First, I attend and refuse to kneel.  Even if the other four Kantan nobles did the same, it wouldn't make a difference to the outcome, so all I'd achieve is revealing my hand too soon.  Or, I attend, willingly join you, and suffer Sabrina's wrath.  Or I keep Sabrina on side by not overtly siding with you and use the time to ensure that my students are safe.  Here I simply have two options - to side with you, or to side with Sabrina.  And the simple fact is...you have honour."</p><p>"And why's that a <i>bad</i> thing?" Deanne asks.</p><p>"It isn't.  But if I side with Sabrina and you defeat her, I can trust that you would not punish my students for my actions, when they could do nothing to sway them.  But if I sided with you and Sabrina triumphed..."</p><p>He trails off.</p><p>"So...what now?"</p><p>Magni steps forward slightly, putting a hand on Deanne's sword arm, nudging her so her blade isn't pointed directly at Matis any more.  "I got a suggestion.  Promise you'll at least listen."  She might be talking to all of us, but she's looking at Deanne, and it isn't until Deanne nods slightly that Magni continues.  "Gaius wasn't just our friend.  He was the Commander of the Imperial Guard.  If I'm remembering my laws right, that means that his murder is punishable by death."  There isn't so much as a quiver in her voice.  "So here's my suggestion.  We go, we deal with Sabrina, and you don't interfere.  And <i>when</i> we defeat her, you testify everything you know about her crimes, confess to ordering Gaius's murder and accept whatever sentence you're given."</p><p>Her voice might not have her usual bombast and enthusiasm, but that same, unshakeable confidence is still there, and I can almost visibly see Matis beginning to wonder if it's actually possible that we might be able to defeat Sabrina.</p><p>"...fine," Deanne accepts, quietly, and the flames on her sword fade away.  But then she twitches her arm aside from Magni's and points her sword at Matis again.   "So long as you swear that you'll keep your end of the bargain when we win."</p><p>Matis pause for a few moments, looking between us all...and then kneels down.  "I swear it."</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So...what do we do now?" Amphy asks, once we're safely out of Kuchiba - I don't think Matis would try some kind of sneak attack, not now, but none of us want to take the risk.</p><p>"We take Sabrina down," Magni answers, simply.  "We put an end to this, for good."</p><p>"Actually..."  Jasmine speaks up, somewhat hesitantly.  She knew Gaius the least out of all of us, but somehow it's almost felt like it affected her more.  Maybe it's because she's only now realising what we've had to face this whole time.  "It may not be a good idea for us all to confront Sabrina.  If the rumours I've heard about her are correct, she is an extremely capable practitioner of Imperial magic.  For those of us not protected against such powers, walking into her demesne might well be equivalent to siding with her."</p><p>We look between each other with more than a hint of nervousness.  None of us can forget the way Emrys, one of the Paladins of the Faith, had taken control of the old Commander of the Imperial Guard, Bruno, along with his subordinates, and forced them to beat each other into a pulp.</p><p>"But...who here's protected against Imperial magic like that?" Magni asks.</p><p>"Ethan is, obviously," Carlei replies, with a calmness that I wish I could feel, "and I can protect myself by sharing his power."</p><p>The momentary panic that had welled up when Carlei had picked me out fades.  I might have Imperial magic, but that doesn't mean I'd be confident fighting someone as powerful as everyone says Sabrina is alone - if for no other reason than the fact that to fight her evenly I'd have to use that same mind-affecting power against her.  I don't want to become someone like that.</p><p>But knowing that Carlei will be there with me...it makes me feel like we could do anything.</p><p>"And...and me."</p><p>Deanne's voice is so quiet that we barely hear it.  "Uh, are you sure?" Magni asks.  "I..."  She trails off, but we know what she was going to say: she and Deanne don't share the same supernatural bond Carlei and I do.  Deanne won't have Magni to support her.</p><p>"I am," Deanne says, more firmly.  "I am the only <i>actual</i> Imperial Blessed here, and I've trained in magic."  Which is something I've never been able to make the slightest bit of headway in, no matter how much I try - because I'm not an Imperial Blessed, presumably, and what powers I do have are only because of my nature as a Chosen of Arceus.  But I've seen her use countermagic before, and I know that power would be incredibly useful against Sabrina.  "And..."</p><p>She trails off for a few moments, looking down at the ground.  "I made a promise to Gaius.  I swore to him that I wouldn't hesitate and cower away again.  I will not disgrace his memory by abandoning it at the first moment."</p><p>I really want to think that she'll keep her word.  Maybe in a less dangerous fight, I would.  But against Sabrina?  Against someone cold and vicious enough to use mind control to precipitate a bloody attempted coup in the palace itself?</p><p>But it's like Carlei said.  We have to trust her.</p><p>"And the rest of us?" Amphy asks.  He sounds every bit as uncertain about letting Deanne come with us as I feel.</p><p>"We could split up, travel to the other nobles of Kanto," Jasmine suggests.  "If nothing else, it would give us the opportunity to see who truly stands with us and who doesn't, free of the influences of the nobility as a whole."</p><p>"There are, however, more of them than there are us," Amphy points out, "if Deanne accompanies you."</p><p>Carlei deliberately ignores the not-very-veiled suggestion of ordering Deanne not to come with us.   "Of the four remaining nobles, I trust Lord Garath," she says, simply.  "He proved his loyalty goes beyond the divide between Kanto and Joto once already."  Her aura shimmers with a brittle rising of fear that she pushes down.  "That leaves Misty, Brock and Erika."</p><p>"Erika was quick to kneel to you," Jasmine muses, "and from what I have learned of her during the old council meetings, her primary concern seems to be the people of Tamamushi.  She and they suffered greatly during the reign of the Exile King."</p><p>"Sounds like most of Kanto did," Magni points out.</p><p>"That's because it did," Amphy says, quietly.</p><p>"In either case, I suspect the best way to earn her loyalty would be to convince her that Carlei could bring peace to Tojo as the Queen.  Perhaps you could take on that task, Magni?"</p><p>"Wait, what?  Why me?"</p><p>Jasmine chuckles slightly.  "I've not known you long, but I've seen you enough to know that you have a knack for convincing people to be optimistic.  And more practically," she adds, "if you speak to Erika, I speak to Brock and Amphy speaks to Misty, that places us in the best position to defend ourselves should one of the lords harbour a loyalty to Sabrina."</p><p>"Brock certainly seemed to be following her lead."</p><p>Jasmine nods in agreement.  "And I suspect he, perhaps more than any of the three, would be inclined to settle matters in battle.  But I could defeat him, should it come to that."</p><p>I don't say it aloud - I know it makes sense, and I know it would be too risky to bring the others to face Sabrina - but I don't want to split up.  Not after what happened.</p><p>Carlei slips her hand into mine, squeezing my hand gently.  <i>&lt;I know.&gt;</i></p><p>I lean my head on her shoulder briefly, furling one wing around her.  Neither of us care that the others are still there, just sharing in a brief, tender moment of comfort.</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't like it being just the three of us.</p><p>Make no mistake, I'm overwhelmingly glad that Carlei's here with me, but even so...Yamabuki has an ominous, <i>hostile</i> atmosphere to it.</p><p>It's the biggest city I've been in, by far.  Most of the settlements here are tiny in comparison to the ones from the world I came from, but - with the possible exception of peoples' clothing - Yamabuki could probably be mistaken for a small town.</p><p>And there are a <i>lot</i> of Blessed here.  Yamabuki has a Grand Temple in it, a sort of counterpart to the one in Kogane back in Joto, but the one in Kogane lost its power as a Grand Shrine a decade or so ago - while I can't be sure, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that that was the same moment that the first spark of divine power settled into what would become the Grand Shrine of Tanba.  But the Grand Temple of Yamabuki still has that same power, and even from a long way away I can feel that aura radiating out across the city.</p><p>I just wish it would drive away the hostile feeling reverberating far stronger through the streets.</p><p>It's Sabrina.  She knows we're here, and I can feel her power like a spider's web, like the only reason we're free to walk the streets is because she's <i>allowing</i> us to.</p><p>The doors to her manor open and close to allow us in.  We don't see a single person until we reach the audience chamber.  "Welcome, Your Majesty," she purrs as we step inside.  "I was hoping you might be kind enough to join me."  Her voice is musical and charming, but there's an unnerving edge to it, like she's a cat toying with her still-living food.</p><p>But at first we barely even notice her, because our attention is fixed on the person next to her.  "Kynaston," Carlei says, flatly.  "Why am I not surprised to find you here?"</p><p>"My loyalty is, and always has been, to Lady Sabrina," he replies evenly.  "My apologies for the deception, but Prince Silver was useful to our cause."</p><p>"Until you went and convinced him to abandon his claim to the throne," Sabrina adds, irritably, glaring at Carlei.  "If only he hadn't become a Champion, we could have simply swayed him to do as we wished.  Even without magic, he was leaning towards working with us.  But for all your talk of peace and unity, you couldn't bear the thought of not ruling Kanto, could you, Your Majesty?"  The sheer venom in her tone at Carlei's honorific is staggering.</p><p>"For Silver to rule because of a tenuous, unproven claim through a man the kingdom despises would not have brought peace," Carlei retorts.  "Though I'm sure the state of the kingdom means little to you, so long as you can lurk behind the throne with all the power you desire."</p><p>"Under <i>my</i> command the kingdom <i>would</i> have been at peace!" Sabrina snaps back.  "More than anyone else I know what the Exile did to this kingdom, I suffered more than any other until the Common King rescued me!  The people of Kanto would have respected me as their Queen, had the Prince been naught but a figurehead."</p><p>"No."  Sabrina glares at me.  "They'd have been afraid of you.  Just the same as they were afraid of Giovanni, just the same as the people out there are right now."</p><p>"<i>I am nothing like him!</i>"  Sabrina pauses briefly, gives an exaggerated sigh, and when she speaks again she's back to her playful, cheerful tone.  "But I suppose I cannot expect you to see reason and stand aside for me.  No matter.  The other nobles will accept my tale of your tyrannical demands and violence as you fell to Chaos from your beloved's wild power that you take such pride in sharing, and my excuse of protecting the people of Yamabuki.  Delivering yourselves to me has made it rather more convenient to eliminate you."</p><p>Carlei and I stand together, and I can feel Carlei sharing my power, magical energy shimmering around us, and we launch a powerful blast at Sabrina - and she responds with just the tiniest flicker of power and at first I think she's vastly underestimated us, but that tiny amount of power is just enough to divert our attack off-course, destroying one of the columns in the room behind them but leaving them totally untouched, and then Kynaston takes the barrier Sabrina had created and turns it into a hail of needles of light that swoop towards us in random arcs across the room, homing in on us from all directions.</p><p>We could match them in terms of sheer power, but Sabrina and Kynaston have fought like this before, and we haven't.  They keep tag-teaming, one of them using small, precise barriers to block my attacks while the other launches attacks, faster and more skilfully than we can keep up with, and we get forced back and back, taking odd hits from attacks we don't quite manage to block until we're almost at the door we came in from -</p><p>And a <i>third</i> attacker sends a blast of magical power into my side and sends me sprawling, stepping out of the shadows as I roll back to my feet, letting the concealing magic that had hidden them from my senses fade, and I flick a blast at them instinctively but Kynaston and Sabrina create a powerful shield that blocks it easily.</p><p>I remember him - the Paladin the Faith had dispatched to aid Lance's work on the Grand Shrine of Tanba, when they wanted to pretend they were still on his side.  I'd always figured it seemed a shitty job to have to go against the Faith's teachings, doubly so when the Faith subsequently seemed to all but abandon him for being 'tainted' by Lance's heresy.  I guess I can't be that surprised Sabrina managed to get her claws into him, but I felt that anger bubbling in his aura back when we last met, and a whole lot of it is directed at <i>me</i>.  He's still wearing most of his Paladin gear, but he's snapped the cat-like mask that all the Paladins wear in half - some symbolic thing, I assume - so I can see the left side of his face but not the right.</p><p>"Sir Evard sent me a missive some time ago," Sabrina explains, in that lilting, musical tone.  She's not even breathing hard.  "He explained the cruel, contemptuous way he had been treated by the Wardens, the supposed messengers of the Divines.  Of course I would offer him sanctuary, among the others like us who know the Faith is corrupt and rotten."</p><p>"What, you think I'm not pissed at some of the shit the Wardens have pulled with me?" I snap.  "Yeah, they've got all their secrets and shit, but that doesn't give you the right to hurt people who have nothing to do with them!"</p><p>"Don't make me laugh!" Evard scoffs.  "You think you have any right to talk about what's right and wrong, oh mighty chosen one of the Divines themselves?  You've had everything handed to you on a plate!"  He pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath, and then looks back to us.  "The Wardens say your destiny is to never lose.  No matter what, you will never fall in battle.  That's the power the Divines have given you."  His aura turns cruel and merciless.  "Now I wonder, how will that work against your beloved Queen?"</p><p>Carlei might be able to use my power to defend herself, but she can't do it instantly, and before either of us realise what he means his spell flickers across and settles across Carlei like a veil.</p><p>"Now, turn and kill your husband."</p><p>Carlei does turn, and I can see the pain and fear and anger in her eyes when she meets mine, and I know that Kynaston and Sabrina's shield is too strong for me to break through to get at Evard.  The only way to stop it would be to use my powers on Carlei, and I...I can't fight her.</p><p>Just like they planned.</p><p>Carlei doesn't move.  Evard frowns, gesturing with a hand.  "I <i>said</i>, kill him!"</p><p>"I..."  Carlei slowly turns her head back to look at him, and I can see the muscles in her neck straining against the power of Evard's magic.</p><p>"Wha...what is this?  <i>Kill him!</i>"</p><p>Carlei shifts, turning, oh-so-slowly, back to face him.  Evard raises his other hand and I can see the Imperial magic now, winding its way towards her, wrapped around her body and limbs like a hundred threads that glow brighter and brighter as he puts more power into the spell.  "I will...<i>never</i>...hurt him!"</p><p>This isn't my magic, or hers.  She has nothing but willpower to fight against the ex-Paladin.  And she's winning.  Evard grits his teeth, wobbling and sinking to one knee as he tries to overpower her - and then the spell loses its cohesion and shatters, and Carlei erupts in a momentary pillar of flame as the magic sealing her powers is destroyed, and then she staggers back and falls and I just barely manage to catch her.</p><p>She's breathing heavily, skin clammy with sweat, but there's a soft smile on her face as she looks up at me.  "I will never hurt you," she promises, again.</p><p>"I -"</p><p>I barely sense Sabrina's attack coming in time to raise a barrier to block the spear of light aimed for Carlei's heart, and the impact - combined with the blasts I'd already taken - is enough to knock me down.  I feel Carlei add what little energy she has left to our barrier, but it's taking everything we have just to shield ourselves, and Sabrina and Kynaston are taking turns to attack while the other creates a barrier even if we could summon the energy to fight back, and -</p><p>"Stop it!"</p><p>Sabrina and Kynaston <i>do</i> relent in their attack - knowing I'm in no state to fight back - but it's more in surprise than any kind of concern as they look over to Deanne.</p><p>"Leave..."  Her voice is so soft, so quiet, and I can hear the nervous quiver.  "Leave them alone."</p><p>"Really?" Sabrina scoffs, a cruel, sadistic amusement as evident in her tone as it is her aura.  "And <i>you're</i> going to stop us?  A coward who couldn't even raise a hand to protect her friends?  I can feel your fear from here."</p><p>"You're right," Deanne admits, looking down at the ground.  "I am afraid."  But she conjures her sword, and a small globe of blue flame appears at the end of it.  "I am a coward.  I always have been, my entire life.  I've always been the one who hides, who stays behind when others fight for me, who runs away rather than face responsibility."</p><p>"You talk too much," Sabrina snaps, unleashing another coruscating blast - and halfway towards us it spirals around and gets absorbed into the swirling ball of flame like water going down a plughole.  And the ball of flame gets bigger.  Deanne doesn't even seem to notice, but she raises her sword up in the same kind of half-saluting posture I saw Clair use as Kynaston and Sabrina look between each other, and I can feel a little nervousness beginning to creep into their auras.</p><p>"After Lance was defeated, to commemorate my part in the victory, Lord Choro taught me one of the most powerful spells known to House Blackthorn, one so secret that even Lady Clair hasn't been trusted with it, and I was too afraid of disappointing him to tell him the truth."</p><p>Neither of them dare attack again, even as the globe of fire keeps growing.  I've heard of magic that absorbs other magic before, but I've never been able to manage it - it requires power <i>leagues</i> beyond merely countering opposing forces, and I can't even do that.</p><p>Deanne raises her sword up higher, the swirling flames causing a tangible, forceful gust to begin to spiral around the room, and Carlei and I instinctively hold each other closer, no matter how confident we are Deanne would never hurt us.</p><p>"Perhaps I will always be afraid."  Deanne looks up, and the blue flames run down her sword and arm, flowing over her back and blazing out into massive wings.  "But I love my friends.  And I'm more afraid of seeing them hurt than I am of you."</p><p>She flicks her sword like a conductor's baton and sends the blazing orb rocketing towards Sabrina and Kynaston, annihilating the combined blast they try to use to repel it - and she leaps after it, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye with a single, massive beat of her wings that knocks me over just from the force of the gust it generates.</p><p>I don't know if Kynaston tried to shield Sabrina from the blast or if she shoved him in the way, but either way, he didn't stand a chance at withstanding it, and as the fire fades he keels over, burned and unconscious but somehow still alive and I realise that for all the massive power of that blast, Deanne was still controlling it enough not to kill.  Sabrina sees Deanne coming through the swirling vestiges of flame and raises a barrier of her own, far stronger than the ones she'd been using against me - and Deanne doesn't even use her sword, just plows through it and tears it apart like it's made of tissue paper.  The barrier slows her down just enough that Sabrina hits her point-blank with a blast of Imperial Magic that she doesn't even notice, and then she backhands Sabrina hard enough to knock her into the far wall.</p><p>I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding, sharing a wide-eyed look with Carlei as we sit up.  "Holy<i> fuck,</i>" is the only thing that comes to mind.</p><p>"I..."  Deanne looks between the unconscious Sabrina and Kynaston, and she sounds almost unsure.  "I...did it?"</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
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    <i>Jasmine</i>
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</div>Lady Erika's manor was an oddity among the nobility.  Where many lords and ladies - herself included, Jasmine had to confess - locked themselves and their manors away behind their walls, Celadon Manor stood proud in the centre of Tamamushi.  And from it, nurtured by the Nature Aspect of the nobles of House Celadon and other Blessed alike, sprawled bounteous vines and trees at all angles that supplied Tamamushi and its outlying areas with all the food they could desire and more, making the region one of the most affluent in the kingdom.  It was a point of pride that a Nature Blessed could say that their conjured flora was a fixture upon the estate of House Celadon.<p>Thus, of course, why Giovanni's rein of cruelty had begun in Tamamushi, locking away the bounty of nature intended for the people and forcing those who depended on it to gamble in their twisted games for the ability to feed their families.</p><p>She wished she could've stood and heard the cheers when the walls around the manner had been breached by Lady Erika and the Common King.  Though some of the walls were still standing despite the best efforts of the people of Tamamushi to tear them down, a testament to the Blessed who'd been forced - or those who, she knew, had willingly joined Giovanni to protect themselves at the cost of those around them - to raise them.</p><p>She made a small gesture as she passed one such pillar, drying the earth it was embedded in to sand.  If the humans trying to dig it free noticed the sudden lack of resistance that allowed the harnessed horses to wrench it out of the ground, she was gone before they thought to wonder why.</p><p>Her curse prickled as she grew closer, and she found herself falling into the thoughts that had plagued her all this time - who would it be who would betray her?  Perhaps it would be Lady Erika; Jasmine would never have said she trusted Erika more than any other, but even the prophecies of a Paladin could not be perfect.  She shook her head, pushing the thoughts away, as she stopped at the front door of the manor and lowered her hood.</p><p>Lady Erika had obviously received the message Jasmine had sent ahead, because the two guards at the front door to the manor were waiting for her.  "Lady Erika is taking tea at the moment," one of them said, as she arrived.  "You are welcome to join her."</p><p>Jasmine kept her expression a small, polite smile, secretly glad her timing had been correct and the information she'd paid for accurate.  Lady Erika would be more liable to respond - or at the least to respond usefully - to a polite, informal conversation over tea than a formal audience.</p><p>Lady Erika was preparing the tea herself, over a fire that was likely only safe in the plant-filled room because of her Nature magic reinforcing the foliage against the flames - an impressive display of skill, even if the flames were merely mundane.  "Please, do sit down, Lady Jasmine."</p><p>"My thanks.  I apologise for arriving with such little advance warning."  The fragrant scent of the brewing tea was filling the room.  It was widely rumoured that Lady Erika would introduce small doses of certain other plants into the tea to give herself an advantage in negotiations with those she mistrusted, and the scents were so strong Jasmine couldn't help but wonder whether those were true - though Lady Erika wouldn't waste her time trying to poison a Mithril Aspect in any case.</p><p>She took one of the bowls of tea when Lady Erika offered it to her - the bowls were rough-carved from wood, by Lady Erika herself, perhaps, and would likely have inflicted splinters upon a human who handled them carelessly.  A surprising lack of foresight from Lady Erika, or perhaps a deliberate reminder to her retainers to not interfere in her personal hobby?</p><p>"Not at all.  I am always happy to welcome guests, particularly when those guests are on the business of our Queen."</p><p>Lady Erika was making a point to mention Carlei's title deliberately.  If Carlei and Ethan triumphed, then she could easily claim she had been on their side the whole time; if Sabrina defeated them, she could simply claim she was biding her time and acting the loyal subject.</p><p>That, of course, was the crux of the matter.  No matter what happened here, it was down to the clash between Sabrina and Carlei in the end.</p><p>"Then I will get straight to that business, if you don't object," Jasmine said, aloud.  "While Lady Jasmine and Field-Marshal Matis have been blamed by the council for the attempts on Her Majesty's life, Her Majesty believes that more than merely those two are responsible.  As such, she is requesting all her loyal councillors investigate, and report back any information you may discover."  She paused to take a sip of the tea - which was indeed quite good, if perhaps a little overly flavourful for her taste.  "She also asked some of her closest, most trusted companions to visit the Lords and Ladies of Kanto individually, so that she can gather any information that you might not have been willing to share before the whole council.  So, is there any information you might have that would be useful to Her Majesty?"</p><p>She set her bowl down and looked back up to meet Lady Erika's gaze.  Lady Erika would know just as well as all the other Kantan rulers that Sabrina was the architect behind it all.  No doubt Sabrina would have approached them all and asked for their loyalty.  And no doubt at least some of them gave it, even if they didn't truly mean it.  The only question was whether Lady Erika would be willing to testify as such before the council - if she did and Sabrina triumphed, that would not be something she could so easily excuse.  And by contrast if Carlei bested her, it would become apparent that Lady Erika had been contacted, and refused to state such.</p><p>This was not a time Jasmine would allow her to toe the line and refuse to pick a side.  Either she was with them, or she was against them.</p>
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<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
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    <i>~Ampharal~</i>
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</div>It was not often that Ampharal found himself disliking logic and reason.<p>It was, after all, something he relied upon a great deal in his day-to-day life.  And yet, now it was logic and reason that had demanded he stand by and let Carlei face an Imperial Blessed of tremendous power.  Just as it had been logic and reason that demanded he stand by and allow Lyra to face Lance on her own.</p><p>Consciously, he knew there were differences.  Deanne's reliability was perhaps questionable, but there was no denying Ethan's power or his devotion to Carlei.  He would fight to the death to defend her.  And as skilled an Imperial Blessed as Sabrina might have been, her power was not even close to Lance's.</p><p>But then Carlei and Ethan's power, even combined, was not even close to Lyra's.</p><p>His poor mood was compounded when he discovered that Lady Misty was hosting an outdoor festival on the cape to the east of Hanada.  In celebration of what, precisely?  No-one seemed to know.</p><p>Still, he was welcomed with all due decorum - which was an improvement over the treatment they'd had from Matis if nothing else - and was invited up to the centre table where Misty was presiding over the festival...or, as it turned out, sitting on the lap of one of her guests and amusing them by conjuring water sculptures.</p><p>She looked rather put out to be interrupted by his arrival.  "Pest," she muttered, not nearly quietly enough that he couldn't hear her, reluctantly sitting down on a chair of her own and shooing away her boyfriend.  "I assume you're here on Carlei's behalf?"</p><p>"You assume correctly.  I am here on Her Majesty's behalf," he corrected her, coolly - though he wasn't entirely convinced she noticed the pointed use of Carlei's title.  "We believe that more than just Matis and Jasmine had a role in the attempt on her life.  And we also believe that whoever was responsible would have tried to recruit the rest of the nobility of Kanto to her - excuse me, <i>their</i> - side.  Thus, on behalf of Her Majesty, I am here to ask you: do you have any information about who could be responsible for such treason?"</p><p>"No," Misty answered, bluntly.  "Look, I've had every single one of the others come and try to get me on their side.  I don't know who's on what side, and I don't care."</p><p>"You're a part of this kingdom," Ampharal retorted.  "The threat of treason to its rightful ruler should concern you."</p><p>"Oh, it concerns me.  But I have a long list of things that concern me that affect the people it's my duty to care for.  And Carlei can protect herself."  She sighed.  "Look, I was never meant to rule Hanada.  Murtagh was the scion to House Cerulean, not me.  The title should've passed from our father to him, and from him to his children.  And so none of us saw any reason that I should learn the ways of rulership."</p><p>Ampharal nodded, understanding beginning to dawn.  It was an effective way of forestalling any potential rebellion from other children of House Cerulean, as had happened in noble families in the past of both Kanto and Joto.  Albeit one that had a downside.  "Then came the Sanguine Council."</p><p>"Yeah, and oh-so-conveniently, my father and brother were killed 'in self-defence.'"  The water sculpture still floating above the table protruded sharp, ominous-looking spikes.  Misty glanced at it and waved a hand, reducing it back to inanimate water.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Ampharal said, quietly.</p><p>A small smile twitched at the corner of Misty's lips.  "You're the first person who's said that to me and meant it.  Thanks."  She gave an idle shrug, resuming her story.  "So here I am, scrambling to do my duty as Lady of House Cerulean with no idea how I'm supposed to do it, and with half the nobles of Kanto trying to take advantage of my weakness.  And besides..."  She hesitated for a couple of moments.  "Everyone thinks that it was Tamamushi or Yamabuki who suffered from the Exile's tyranny first.  It wasn't.  It was us.  He blockaded the roads that brought supplies from Nibi to cut us off, and then dispatched a squad of his soldiers under cover of darkness to attack and rob our Temple, stealing the scrolls that would form the foundation of his charologists' tyranny.</p><p>"We've been frightened and hurt enough by nobles vying for prestige and power - the Exile, the Common King, Lance, Brock...all of them."  Misty looked back up to him, her expression giving away a lot more than her curt tone.  "If Carlei wants our loyalty, then she can leave us alone."</p>
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<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
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    <i>~Magni~</i>
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</div>Magni wasn't sure what she should've expected from Lord Brock of House Pewter.<p>Carlei had warned her he was the last of the Kantan nobles to kneel to her, after even Sabrina, so she wasn't exactly expecting a warm welcome.  And Nibi was the closest region to the Royal Capital of Kanto, and everyone seemed to think that Brock had been at least loosely allied with Giovanni.</p><p>Despite all that, Magni had to admit, she hadn't been expecting Brock and some of his buddies to gang up on her and attack straight away.  Those buddies were probably regretting it now - or at least they would regret it once they woke up.  But much to her frustration, she hadn't laid a finger on Brock yet.</p><p>"You're distracted," he remarked.  He didn't exactly seem concerned by the fact that what had been a five-on-one advantage had been reduced to a fair fight with his allies laid out cold on the floor.</p><p>"Of course I'm sodding distracted!"  She swung at him again, and her fist met a rock shield, just like Jasmine's.  And just like Jasmine's, it stopped her punch cold even though the force of the blow cracked the floor of the audience chamber.  She growled in frustration and stepped round it - and a hail of rock darts flew towards her, forcing her to raise her arms to protect herself, wincing in pain.  "For your information," she snapped, "for all I know right now the woman I love could be fighting for her life against Sabrina."</p><p>"That's the kind of vulnerability she'd use against you," Brock retorted, darting forwards and landing a couple more hits on her.  "I hope your beloved can think more clearly than you."</p><p>"Oh, sure you do," she scoffed, wheeling around and trying to kick him, but he ducked under her leg and hopped backwards before she could follow up.  "More like you'll just give anything I tell you to Sabrina if I don't stop you!"</p><p>"That'd be pretty pointless if someone's already fighting her.  Unless you don't have faith in Lady Deanne's abilities.  Unless you're assuming she'll lose."</p><p>"How in the hells do you know her name!?"  Her fist went through one of the pillars in the audience chamber as he stepped aside from her and she tore it free, cursing as the rubble fell on her.  That was exactly what Ethan had done to her, when they'd first met.  Except at least she'd been able to tag him.</p><p>She should've been doing better than this.</p><p>"People tell you a lot of things when they think you're just a stupid brute following orders.  As I'm guessing you know, 'Unbreakable Fist.'  How many people underestimate you because they think you've got nothing but strength on your side?"</p><p>Why did he have to be so <i>reasonable</i>?  Villains weren't meant to do that.  "Yeah?  So what are you if not just following orders?"</p><p>Brock brushed a little rubble off his tunic, ignoring the cracking noise from the roof of the audience chamber.  "Do you really think Sabrina is doing this on her own?  She's a venomous spider, weaving a web across the kingdom and filling it with her poison.  If you think that besting Sabrina in battle would be the end of it, you won't even see your defeat coming."</p><p>"Whose side are you even on, then?" Magni growled.</p><p>"Kanto's," Brock answered, simply.  "Just like Garath.  Except I don't have the luxury of being appointed to my noble title by the Faith itself and being one of the closest allies of the Common King.  Even Sabrina's cautious of him.  But me?  Half the council think I was on the Exile's side in the first place.  They wouldn't bat an eyelid if I died.  So when Sabrina came calling for muscle, I let her think that I was her humble servant and she was too arrogant to consider that I might be lying.  And so I learned a great deal about her agents."</p><p>Was he trying to get her to lower her guard?  "And now you're gonna tell me and stop this farce?"</p><p>"<i>If</i> you prove yourself."  Massive chunks of the audience chamber tore themselves out of the ground, orbiting around Brock, crushing themselves down with a grinding of stone until they looked like massive spears, longer than either she or Brock were tall.  "I'm not arrogant enough to think I know <i>everything</i>, or that Sabrina won't have poisoned someone in my household to keep an eye on me.  And I want to trust that the person I'm giving my information to has the strength to handle what those agents might do to stop that information getting to the people who can use it.  Besides," he added, as the spears angled ominously towards her, "all the rumours say the Queen is backed by the Divines themselves.  If that's the case, you should have no problem besting a lowly nobleman like me."</p><p>Magni felt the corners of her mouth twitch upwards, for what might have been the first time since Deanne had left with Ethan and Carlei.  She had to admit it - there was a part of her that was enjoying the fight, as a distraction from the thoughts tearing around in her head if nothing else.  When was the last time she'd been able to go all out without worrying about not causing a stir?  "So you want to test me, huh?</p><p>"Never heard the saying 'careful what you wish for'?"</p>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
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    <p>To be honest, I wasn't sure what we were going to do with Sabrina.  It didn't exactly seem like she'd be the sort of person to just roll over and admit defeat after being beaten in a fight, no matter how big the 'Divines grant victory to the righteous' thing is here.</p><p>And to some extent I think I was right.  I don't think it's any kind of belief that her loss was proof she was in the wrong - she knew full well what she was doing was against the laws of the land and the scriptures of the Faith, and she didn't care.  But Carlei defeating Evard with nothing more than pure strength of will had troubled her - I'd seen that at the time.  And then there was Deanne.  The sheer <i>effortlessness</i> with which she'd overpowered two of the most powerful Imperial Blessed in Tojo...that did a lot more than just dent Sabrina's pride.  It pretty much shattered it.</p><p>I don't know that Sabrina would be so obedient if Deanne wasn't here, but as I've discovered in the past, being able to sense people from a distance has its downsides - and so long as Sabrina can sense Deanne, she doesn't seem particularly inclined to try anything.  I feel occasional scanning pulses ripple through the city from Sabrina occasionally, but given the sheer magnitude of the aura surrounding Deanne ever since her Ascension in the battle, Sabrina can confirm that Deanne's still here from across the city.  It's almost like she's reassuring herself about it.</p><p>It takes a couple of weeks for the six of us to gather back up - in the absence of a better location - the palace Giovanni had lived in is now Viridian Manor, the residence of the newest of the noble houses of Kanto - we take charge of Yamabuki and use it as our temporary base of operations.  And, in turn, Amphy, Jasmine and Magni return.  Neither Amphy nor Jasmine got much of anything useful, but Magni hit the motherload.  (I just hope that the rumours that Pewter Manor collapsed after she was done 'visiting' Brock are at least a <i>little </i>exaggerated...)</p><p>Once it becomes apparent that Magni has enough information from Brock to finish off Sabrina's planned rebellion for good, Carlei breaks from the tradition of using Otsukimi as the site of the Tojo council - partly for the sake of practicality, partly a deliberate gesture given the anti-Jotan sentiment we've seen from a lot of the people of Kanto - and sends a message to Lord Garath, asking his permission to use his manor as the site of an emergency meeting of the Kantan councillors.</p><p>Before we leave, we send messengers to the other lords and ladies of Kanto, warning them about the traitors among their households - and evidently they all agree with our judgement that those traitors would be every bit as much a threat to <i>them </i>as to us if Sabrina wanted them to be, because we get back a set of grateful responses.  By the time we set off, I can almost feel the strands of the web Sabrina had woven across Kanto beginning to fray and snap.</p><p>Travelling by airship, the trip to Tokiwa takes less than a day.</p><p>I saw Lord Garath at Carlei's coronation, of course, and I've heard no end of stories about him as we travelled Kanto - how he'd been by the side of the Common King from the start, how he'd led some of the battles against Giovanni.  To the people of Kanto, he's a hero.</p><p>I hadn't ever heard much about the people who travelled alongside him, so when I see a familiar face standing next to him, for a moment I just blink in shock at her.</p><p>"Evena?"</p><p>She blinks back at me - she's still wearing what must be her heraldry, that long, blue cloak.  The last time I'd met her, her aura had been so insurmountably powerful that it felt like she was the equal of a hundred of me.  And yet now it feels like we're evenly matched - or...maybe she's even <i>weaker</i> than I am.  I know what my senses are telling me, and I know how strong we've grown since then, but it's still almost impossible to believe.</p><p>She laughs, and I'm glad that it's just Garath and Evena who are here to welcome us, with everyone else occupied with unloading the handcuffed Sabrina from the second airship.  "You know, I had a feeling I'd see you again."  And then she elbows Garath in the stomach, lightly, whispering to him loudly enough that it's obviously intended for us to hear.  "You didn't tell me <i>he</i> was Her Majesty's husband!"</p><p>"<i>You</i> didn't tell me the man you met was called Ethan," Garath stage whispers back.</p><p>He gets my name right.</p><p>Carlei looks bewildered for a moment, and then her expression brightens.  "I told you I'd heard the name Evena before!  You were one of the Common King's companions alongside Garath, weren't you?"</p><p>Evena nods.  "One of the very first," Garath interjects, before she can agree with Carlei.  "Before even I was smart enough to realise who was in the right."</p><p>"You didn't have to tell them that," Evena complains.</p><p>"More seriously," Carlei adds, stepping off the boarding ramp, "there's something I've been meaning to say for near two years now, and I've never had the chance to."  Her voice is softer and gentler.  "Thank you for protecting me," she says to Garath, quietly.</p><p>Garath looks a little sheepish, running one hand through his hair.  "It was nothing," he replies, and I don't think he's just saying that because it's what's demanded by etiquette if the reigning monarch expresses gratitude.  "If there was one thing he taught me, it was that if you have the power to protect others, you should use it."</p><p>So it was Garath who'd saved Carlei's life during the Sanguine Council.  I'd known she'd been in danger for as long as I'd known it had happened in the first place, and I'd known who was responsible for a while, but I'd never known who it was who'd protected her.  Carlei had always been a little too embarrassed about it to go into detail. "You mean the Common King?"</p><p>Garath nods.  "Yes.  A far better man than me."  He sighs.  "In any case," he adds, stepping back slightly and gesturing formally down the path, "a makeshift council table awaits, Your Majesty."</p><p>After everything it took to get here, after Gaius's death, after the battles with Janine, Matis, Sabrina...the rebellion against Carlei is brought down in amidst formal etiquette and points of order.  I have no idea how Carlei manages to put up with it all, never mind actually follow it, and even with her borrowing my powers to poke me when my attention drifts, I still miss most of it.</p><p>At least until all the formal business is done, and Carlei rises to speak.  "I know many of you don't want me as your Queen.  And from just the limited amount I've heard of the Common King, I have no doubt that he would be a far better ruler than I.  But he evidently didn't have any wish to take a political role, and I have no wish to insult him by either trying to find him and convince him to return, or to try to mimic what I think would be his decisions from my rudimentary knowledge of him."  She sighs.  "As Lance's eldest child, I was always prepared for the day I would rule.  I thought that the greatest concern in my life would be to lead Joto, as my father had.  I never expected...any of this.  And...in truth, if I had the option to leave all this behind and spend the rest of my life with the man I love, without crowns or titles or nobility, I would.  But...I can't.  Whether you want me to or not, I have a duty to Kanto, just as much as I do Joto.  And I have no desire to sever the two kingdoms."</p><p>"That said, I have a suggestion.  Not a royal decree, or an idea I expect you all to agree with because of my title - a suggestion.  I know Otsukimi is, to some of you, a symbol of everything you dislike about Joto.  That's why I asked Lord Garath if he would be kind enough to lend us the use of his lands as a neutral ground for this meeting.  However, obviously, this is hardly a tenable option for the future - it was the Faith's decree that he should receive the lands that were once the Exile's in recognition of everything he did for Kanto, and I have no intention of trying to reclaim Tokiwa.  But there is still a region that is a part of Kanto but not claimed by any of you: Guren."</p><p>A flash of shock ripples across the room.</p><p>"The city that was once there was destroyed by Lord Moltres' wrath, but the island still stands, perhaps the best symbol of the end of the Exile's rule that there is.  I plan to petition the High Priest for guidance as to whether the Divines would permit the construction of a small residence upon the island, one that would serve as a reminder, if you will, for all those who claim the title of ruler of Kanto, that the Divine right to rule is granted <i>by</i> the Divines, not by mortals like the Exile or Lance."  She pauses for a couple of moments, and when she speaks again her voice is softer.  "And I have another suggestion, one inspired by an old method of governance in Hoen, in honour of the person without whom none of us - Kantan or Jotan - would likely be standing here."</p><p>I wasn't sure how much the Kantan nobles know about Lyra.  Judging from the way some of their confrontational expressions and postures soften a little, they know enough.</p><p>"In the old days of Hoen, should the heads of the twelve noble houses put their seals to a request, it became law unless the King or Queen specifically countermanded it - and few rulers of Hoen ever did.  Our own laws do not possess such an method, but...I believe the same principle can be adapted.  With the airships you possess -" technically they belong to the ruler of Kanto, but she doesn't mention that "- travel between Kanto and Joto can be swift.  Sending word between the two nations is no longer a near impossible process.  So this is what I propose.  Within reason, the regions of Kanto will be permitted to govern themselves, without interference from the Crown - instead, the Crown will serve as a mediator, an impartial judge who can make decisions when two noble houses clash.  Each season, a missive is sent from Kanto to the ruler of Tojo, detailing any points of detail that require such mediation, and any particular requests for aid from the Crown.  And if that missive states that nothing is needed, and is marked with the seals of the rulers of the regions of Kanto to confirm that, then the Crown will not interfere.  On that, you have my word before the gaze of Lord Entei, he who Chose me as his warrior."</p><p>There are a long, few moments of silence.  "None of us doubt your good intentions, Your Majesty," Erika comments.  "However...we do not want a situation where Kanto only experiences the independence it deserves for the duration of <i>your</i> rule.  What you propose cannot be enforced in our laws.  The abilities of the Crown cannot, by law, be restricted in any way."</p><p>"Except by the creation of noble titles and responsibilities associated with them," Carlei replies.  "While I'm...aware...that Kings and Queens of Kanto and Joto alike paid little heed to the kingdom's laws when it didn't suit them, so long as the nobility discharge their duties properly, I - and future Kings and Queens - have no license to directly interfere with the way you lead your regions.  In the same way, I plan to enshrine the title of Viceroy of Kanto into Tojan law.  And the title of Viceroy of Joto."</p><p>That gets her some startled expressions.  "Joto as well, my lady?" Garath asks.</p><p>"Yes.  As I said, the two kingdoms have been severed for too long.  And as many of you have said, Kanto deserves to be treated equally to Joto.  No longer will the Crown of Tojo reside solely in Joto, as it has the past three years, and no longer will the lords and ladies of Joto have easier access to the ear - and the might - of the Crown."  Carlei sighs.  "This...this is my proposal.  And I hope it meets with your approval."</p><p>We step back out into the gardens of Viridian Manor, to give the Kantan nobles time to discuss on their own, without us looming over them.  I'm still not entirely convinced that allowing Sabrina to keep her title - as Carlei seems to be planning - is the right move, but I trust her judgement.</p><p>"How long have you been planning that?" I ask her, quietly, once we find somewhere secluded to sit down.  It's faintly drizzling with rain, but neither of us care.</p><p>"A while.  I found the mention of the Petitions of Hoen back when we were trying to decipher the meaning of the sigil Lyra had left on the letter to Amphy.  I never gave it much thought until we started hearing from the Kantans, from Janine especially."  She gives a small chuckle.  "She's probably the first noble to talk freely to the ruler of the kingdom in decades."</p><p>She shifts closer and nestles into my wing, taking my hands and interlacing her fingers with mine.  "I wish we could just leave," I say, quietly.  "Leave, and..."  I don't normally have any problem saying what I'm thinking to her, but I find myself stuttering a little.  "And...and have a family together."  I can almost feel my cheeks turning red.</p><p>Carlei doesn't respond for a couple of moments - and then she leans over and kisses me on the lips.  "I'd love that," she whispers, when we part.</p><p>And I'm very, <i>very</i> glad of my powers, because they let me sense Garath coming, and Carlei just leans back down to sit next to me with my wing furled around her.</p><p>"Sorry to interrupt," Garath says, as he approaches.</p><p>"Have you made a decision?" Carlei asks.</p><p>"Uh, no, they're still talking," he admits, catching us off-guard.  "It was actually Ethan I wanted to talk to."</p><p>"Huh?" I ask, ever so eloquently.</p><p>"This...this may be a very strange question, and I apologise in advance if it is.  But...do you have a brother?"</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For a moment all I can do is just gape at Garath.  It's such a weird, specific question, and between that and the fact that he pronounced my name correctly when we first met I can't stop my mind from jumping to conclusions, and I know that I should probably stay calm and consider things logically but -</p><p>"Did you know Jake?" I blurt out.</p><p>Garath gives a relieved sigh.  "So I was right," he mutters.  "To be honest, I thought you looked a lot like him when I saw you at the coronation.  But I couldn't really ask you there.  So you're...like him, aren't you?"</p><p>Carlei catches the glance he gives at her.  "You mean from another world," she remarks, with an almost derisive tone as if to say 'of course I know.'</p><p>Garath chuckles quietly.  "It still feels so strange to talk about that.  But to answer your question...yes, I knew Jake.  I'd even go so far as to say he was a close friend.  He, uh...appeared...three years ago, in a small village with no significance that anyone would ever know of...except for the fact that it's where the High Priest was born.  As it happened, I was there at the time."  He shakes his head with a small smile.  "To find this strange man stumbling around the village threatening to call the...uh, pole-iss...I thought this was some bizarre attempt to embarrass the High priest.  In truth it was Evena who stood up for him and looked after him, far before I ever accepted him.  And it took him all of...perhaps two weeks...to decide that the way the Exile ruled the kingdom in a tyrant's grasp was cruel and wrong, almost before he understood the world he'd arrived in."</p><p>"That sounds like Jake."</p><p>Garath nods, sitting down opposite us, Manifesting cream-feathered wings of his own to furl around himself for warmth, the feathers almost glinting gold.  "At the time, to my shame, I thought he was a fool who was jumping to conclusions about a world he knew nothing about.  But then he was Chosen by th...by Lord Zapdos," he corrects himself quickly.  "And then Evena started training him.  We both received our Blessing very young, but she'd always been the more powerful of the two of us.  I'd never seen her lose a fight in my life.  Until she fought Jake.  The first time I thought it was just happenstance, or a quirk of their Aspects...but the second time they fought the battle was far more obviously in Jake's favour.  It wasn't long before the two of us couldn't even defeat him working together.  And he just kept getting stronger.</p><p>"I, uh...I didn't take it too well," he admits.  "For all that we're taught that the Divines grant victory to the righteous, the idea that I might have been in the wrong - that everything I'd learned had been wrong - was almost as inconceivable as the idea that someone who'd been Chosen less than a month ago could defeat me when I'd been training since I was a child.  In the end, in a fit of pique, I told him that if he thought he was so righteous, then he could travel to Nibi and force Lord Brock to stop hoarding the resources that he'd been taking from the mines.  I never thought he'd actually leave the village, but...he did.  And when next I saw him, it was in Hanada City, with a group of allies of his own, having bested both Lord Brock and Lord Gawain in combat.  And that was only the beginning.</p><p>"You've probably heard most of the rest of the story by now.  As you know, it ended with the Exile being cast down and me being handed the rulership of the Tokiwa region by the Faith - at your brother's insistence."</p><p>"So, then..."  Carlei shares a glance with me, neither of us entirely willing to ask the question, but eventually she sits up slightly and fixes Garath with a glare.  "Was Jake the one who was called the Common King?"</p><p>Garath just nods, once, and doesn't say anything at first.  "Yes, he was," he confirms, after a few moments.</p><p>"So what happened to him?" I ask.  "Why does everyone just call him the Common King now?  Where is he?"</p><p>Garath sighs.  "I can't tell you that.  I mean, I <i>literally</i> can't," he adds, seeing my expression.  "It's...complicated.  And made more so by the fact that I made a promise to your brother, the last time I saw him."</p><p>"What promise?"</p><p>"That I wouldn't tell just anyone the one place they can find the answers.  That I would fight as hard as I could to protect that secret."</p><p>"Somehow I doubt Jake intended that to apply to his brother," Carlei points out.</p><p>"Maybe not, but...all the same, I won't betray the promise I made."</p><p>"So...what?  You want to duel us or something?  In the middle of the peace conference?"  Okay, it might not technically be a peace conference, but it's not too far off.</p><p>"No.  At least, not yet.  But once the other nobles have departed...in times gone by, duels were a sign of mutual respect and trust."  Garath stands back up.  "Why not make them such again?  A simple duel between a chosen warrior from each of our retinues, before the gaze of the Divines."</p><p>I grit my teeth slightly.  I want to just demand he tells me where Jake is, but I don't need to read his aura to know he won't.  And whatever Garath might be spouting about duels being a sign of respect, a duel between Jotans and Kantans is never going to go well when it's taking all the goodwill we've got just to get them to consider Carlei's suggestion.  As much as I want to get some answers, I don't want to risk disrupting the best chance at finally getting some peace in Kanto and Joto.</p><p>Especially when half the problem is that Jake disappeared before settling things with Joto.</p><p>Carlei squeezes my hand, gently.  "Fine," I agree.</p><p>Garath nods.  "Then I wish your chosen warrior the best of luck."</p><p>Once he's gone, I exhale sharply.  "You okay?" Carlei asks, reaching over to put a hand on my cheek, letting me lean my head on her palm a little.  She knows I'm not.</p><p>"So Jake was brought here, just the same as I was."  For once I can't just focus on Carlei's embrace.  "I don't get it.  Not...everything Garath just said, that sounds just like Jake.  And pretty typical of him that he arrives in a brand new world and becomes the strongest guy in the village within a couple weeks."</p><p>"I betcha you could take him," Carlei whispers, deliberately amping up the anachronisms she periodically drops into our conversations normally.  She knows full well how...complex...my relationship with my brother always was, and I will never be able to get used to how incredibly kind and thoughtful she is, and I can't help but smile a little.</p><p>"But...him disappearing, leaving everything up in the air like this...he'd never do that."</p><p>It takes us a while before we have the chance to talk to the rest of the group.  "So who's gonna fight?" Magni asks, with typical enthusiasm.  "How about you show them what a scion of House Blackthorn can do, huh?" she suggests to Deanne, making her blush furiously.</p><p>"Actually..."  Jasmine looks around the rest of us.  "I'd like to do this, if that's okay."</p><p>"Uh..." I blink, caught a little off-guard by the offer.  "I mean, if you want to, I appreciate it, but..."  But I don't know why she would.  Magni, Deanne, Amphy...we've all been through so much shit that I wouldn't be surprised that they would offer to do something like this for me, and I'd do the same for them without hesitation.  But Jasmine...</p><p>"Can I talk to you, Ethan?" she asks.</p><p>"...sure?"</p><p>"So, uh..."  I stumble over my words briefly, trying to figure out a polite way of putting this.  "Why...why do you want to do this for me?"</p><p>"I...admit I don't fully understand everything that's going on here, but this is clearly important to you.  And I know I haven't been a part of your group for nearly as long as the others, but...Carlei's one of my closest friends.  And the truth is, the last time I saw her before you met her was the day after the Sanguine Council.  Being there, seeing people she'd known since she was a child dying - or killing - she tried to hide it, but it hurt her, and...to be honest, I didn't know what to do to help.  And even if I had, Lance forbade us all from visiting the palace again."  Jasmine gives me a small smile.  "I heard that she'd been exiled and stripped of her title, of course, and that made me worry even more...and then you all arrived in Asagi, and she was so confident, and so strong.  Even if I disagreed with what you were doing and felt it was placing her in greater danger, I couldn't help but be relieved.  And both then and when next I saw you at the head of the rebellion...being with you has made her happier than I've ever seen her.  For that alone, I owe you a great deal.</p><p>"So...that's why I want to help."</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The nobles of Kanto agree to Carlei's suggestion, and the next week goes by in a flurry of messages sent by airship around Tojo, and wrangling with the exact legal wording of the new Viceroy positions that Carlei established.</p><p>I wish I could be excited about it, but the only thing I can think about is that I'm so close to finding Jake.  To asking him why he disappeared.</p><p>And my chance of success depends on Jasmine.</p><p>It's not that I don't trust her, but...I'm almost certain that Garath will ask Evena to fight for him.  And powerful as Jasmine is, and as much as Evena doesn't seem so overwhelmingly powerful as she had the first time I met her, she has a massive advantage over Jasmine from her Aspect.</p><p>Carlei reaches over and strokes my cheek.  "It'll be okay," she promises me.  "We'll find him."</p><p>"I know," I lie.  "I just...what if we find him and after all this he doesn't want to talk to us?  If he just wants to be alone?"</p><p>She wraps her arms around me and pulls me close to her.  "You've told me enough about Jake to know that he won't," she says, simply, and somehow her voice and her warmth make everything seem so much better.</p><p>When we meet Garath again, he's joined not only by Evena, but by a half-dozen other Blessed, all dressed in their heraldry, all probably as powerful as us.  "Some of our friends from back then," he explains.</p><p>"Did they all..?"</p><p>"We all knew Jake," one of them - a big man in heavy armour that reminds me far too much of Gaius's heraldry - nods.  "All got...what's that phrase he used?"</p><p>"'Our asses kicked,'" quotes one of the others, a younger man probably my age, with red-and-black robes and a massive cloak of cream fur that almost seems to dwarf him.</p><p>"That's the one.  We all 'got our asses kicked' by him time and again, too."</p><p>"He was the most powerful Blessed any of us had ever met," another of the warriors says, and then chuckles.  "Actually, he was the most powerful Blessed that any of us have ever heard of, before that or after.  Aside from..."  He falls quiet for a moment.  "...strange," he murmurs, lapsing into silence, as the others look at him quizzically.</p><p>"In any case," Evena says.  "We agreed that the matter would be settled by a single duel before the gaze of the Divines.  It seems only fair that you pick your warrior first, Garath?"</p><p>"How is that fair..?" Garath grumbles, and I realise with a jolt not only that it sounds like Evena won't be fighting for him but that she's more on our side than his.  "But...very well.  Since it is Jake's past and future that we promised to keep secret, it seems only fitting that the one to fight for that secret is the one who swore an oath of loyalty to him."  He gestures to the young man in the massive cloak.</p><p>"My name is Natan of Cion," he introduces himself.  "I don't know how much you know about the history of Kanto, but when the Exile began to move against his own kingdom, he sought out holy places for the information he wanted in his heretical pursuits.  One such place was the Cion Shrine of Corruption.  The spirits of the dead who were mourned at the Shrine lashed out at the intrusion on their demesne, indiscriminately.  Many innocent people died," he says, quietly.  "And had Jake not saved me, I would have been among them.  For that, I owe him everything."  Flames begin to flow around him, a warm golden glow unlike Carlei's wild fire, running down his cloak until the entire thing is ablaze - and then he raises both hands and the whole thing lifts and separates into a half-dozen strips that splay out around him, his control over his fire enough to let him use it to move the entire source of the fire.</p><p>Carlei's obviously as impressed as I am by Natan's power, but she keeps her voice level.  "For our part," she says, "Jasmine has offered to take part as our warrior."</p><p>Natan looks at Jasmine, obviously sizing her up.  "Then may the Divines grant victory to the righteous," he says, simply.</p><p>Garath doesn't have a proper sparring ring like we've seen in some of the other nobles' manors, but there's more than enough space in the grounds.  In lieu of a priest to declare the start of the battle, Evena conjures a wall of water between the two, and begins counting down.</p><p>I grip Carlei's hand tightly, and she nestles against me as we watch.</p><p>Natan is <i>fast</i>.  Faster than Carlei, faster than anyone I've seen.  He just seems to <i>blur </i>and then he's right in front of Jasmine and punches her in the side, hard enough that we hear the impact even from where we're standing.</p><p>She doesn't so much as blink, and jabs at him with her gauntleted hand, but he pushes his cloak down into the ground and uses it as leverage to leap backwards, striking at her with some of the other flaming lengths of fabric, which she bats away with elegant sweeps of her glaive, advancing on him and forcing him to back up even as he keeps attacking.</p><p>He gets a few hits on her with lashes of the blazing cloak, but she doesn't seem to really notice, and while he's quick enough to keep her at bay for the most part after about half a minute she manages to catch him with the butt of her glaive and immediately capitalises, leaning forwards and sweeping the weapon around, hurling him back across the courtyard like he weighs nothing at all.  He catches himself with his cloak, and before she can get back into melee with him brings all the lengths of his cloak together, forming a white-hot ball of flame that radiates heat across the grounds, launching it at her, and she stops her charge, skidding to a halt and bringing up that unbreakable barrier of hers -</p><p>And I feel it a heartbeat before it's going to happen, too late to do anything about it.</p><p>Ever since I'd met Jasmine, I'd felt the malevolent presence around her, like something had got its claws into her and was just waiting for the moment to strike.  She'd told me that it was a curse, that that which she trusted the most would betray her when she was most in need.</p><p>She'd assumed it had meant that Carlei would betray her.  I'd assumed it had meant Amphy.  Neither of us had ever considered the possibility of her being betrayed by something so permanent, so fundamental, that she trusted so implicitly that it was all but a part of her.</p><p>The malevolent curse <i>tears</i>, and her Blessing is reduced to nothing, and she's consumed in flame as her barrier crumbles to sand.</p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's so sudden, so impossible, that for a moment I can't move.  Some part of me still thinks I imagined it, but I know I didn't.  I know Jasmine's soul isn't there any more.  The others haven't even realised what's happened, expecting the flames to die down to reveal her intact barrier.</p><p>Alyn knows, though.  He felt the lack of resistance against his flames.  He might not know why, but he knows something went wrong, and he makes a swipe with one arm and the fire surges away in all directions before flickering out.  The panicked movement catches the eye of Garath and the others, and Evena starts to move forwards towards him.</p><p>Jasmine falls.</p><p>It feels so slow, almost...graceful.  None of us move, none of us can believe it.</p><p>Evena hurls a ball of water ahead of her that detonates into soothing mist.  She knows how pointless it is.  Our Blessings protect us from wounds that severe.</p><p>But the movement breaks the horrible spell and Carlei screams and runs forwards, as though there's anything she can do about it.  And Amphy...</p><p>Amphy doesn't cry out, doesn't move to try to help his sister.</p><p>He raises his hands and fires a bolt of lightning, past Carlei, past Evena, aimed directly at Alyn's heart.</p><p>I shift, almost before I realise I'm doing it, somehow outpacing the lightning and putting myself between Amphy and Alyn, furling my wings in front of myself as a shield from the electricity.</p><p>I don't even notice the pain.</p><p>"Why."  Amphy's voice is so hollow the word is barely even a question.  "Why are you stopping me."</p><p>"<b><i>Because it wasn't his fault</i></b>!"  My wings erupt in reddish-golden fire and the lightning bolt crackling at my feathers is forced back, shattering and sending sparks across the courtyard with enough force that it knocks Amphy down.  He doesn't bother trying to get up.</p><p>They're all looking at me.  Carlei, Garath - Alyn, looking as stunned as anyone that I saved him.</p><p>"It wasn't his fault," I repeat, as the flames on my wings die out and I unfurl them.  "There was...when you were poisoned, Shijima tried to...remove...Jasmine too.  There was a curse on her.  That the thing she trusted most would betray her when she needed it.  Her Blessing."</p><p>"And you didn't tell me."</p><p>"And what the fuck would any of us have done about it?!" I snap.  "Especially when trying to mess with destiny can make everything worse."</p><p>Behind me, Alyn turns, and I hear him being sick.  Evena moves past me - she's the only one, aside from Carlei, not watching me nervously - and puts a hand on Alyn's back, trying to reassure him.  If it's even possible to comfort someone who's just taken a life.</p><p>Carlei moves back to Amphy, as much lifting him up as helping him.  He pushes her away.  "Wha..?"  I can feel the pain in her voice, his rejection of her support hurting her nearly as much as Jasmine's death.</p><p>"You should stay away from me," he says, hollowly.</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"Because everyone I care about dies, apparently!"  Carlei flinches at his sudden yell, but tears are finally beginning to form at the corners of his eyes, and when she reaches out to hug him again he doesn't try to push her away.</p><p>There's a long, few moments of silence, broken only by Amphy's quiet sobbing.</p><p>"Masara."</p><p>I've never heard Evena sound angry before.  But although her voice is quiet, there's an undeniable anger there - not directed at me, or Amphy, or Alyn, but anger all the same.</p><p>I look round at her.  "A week's travel south, there's the village of Masara.  It's where the High Priest of the Faith was born, and where he lives, privately.  He's who can tell you where Jake is.  What happened.  We can't.  We can't interfere.  <i>Shouldn't</i> interfere."  The last sentence is clearly directed at Garath, and the anger in her voice and her eyes is aimed clearly at him.  He can't meet her gaze.</p><p>So I won after all.  I got what I wanted.  And I can't help but remember what Evard had said - that it was my destiny, proscribed by the Divines, to always win, even if the people around me die to effect it.</p><p>Are the Divines to blame for this?  For Lyra?  Gaius?  Haneka, Shayne and Bradon, and the young girl from the archipelago of Tanba?</p><p>I wish I could say I didn't think they were.  But with just how much the priests and the Faith are playing their own game and keeping me out of the loop, and to hear that after all this, the fucking High Priest is the only one who I can ask about my abducted brother, after he was one of the first people I confided in about coming here from my own world beyond Carlei and he acted like he didn't know anything...</p><p>Yeah, the Divines are to blame for this.</p><p>"Fuck them."</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Carlei and I appear in Masara in a blaze of fire.</p><p>It's a small village, much like any of the others we'd passed through while we were travelling around Joto and Kanto.  It seems so...normal.  But somewhere here is the High Priest.</p><p>Our sudden appearance attracts attention, unsurprisingly, and Carlei steps forwards slightly, taking a deep breath to calm herself.  "Our apologies for our sudden appearance," she says, doing her best to keep her voice level, to not let herself voice the anger she's feeling towards people who don't deserve it.  "We have urgent business with the High Priest."</p><p>There are some sullen mutterings - even I know enough about the rules that govern the interactions between Crown and Faith to know that we're breaking most of them - but the villagers evidently decide that if the King and Queen of Tojo have appeared out of nowhere to speak to the High Priest personally, it must be important enough that the standard etiquette can be cast aside.</p><p>For all my anger, I still can't help but feel bad that we're taking advantage of their trust like this.</p><p>The High Priest's house is an unassuming, small one, lacking even a garden.  I remember the first time I met him, at Jisan's out-of-the-way old temple, or whatever it originally was.  I'd wondered then why there was a grave to someone obviously important to him in someone else's backyard, but...now it makes more sense.  The High Priest is supposed to be divorced from mortal concerns - isn't supposed to have people they care about to mourn.  Oak could never visit a graveyard or the memorial site in Cion, not for personal reasons.</p><p>I guess to some extent he has to face the fame and publicity just as we do.</p><p>Oak opens the door himself when we knock.  A smell of cooking meat wafts from inside.  "Your Highnesses.  Please, do come in."  I have no doubt he can see the anger in our eyes, but he doesn't respond.</p><p>He doesn't seem too surprised that we're here.</p><p>I keep my temper until he's closed the door, more for Carlei's sake than anything else.  After everything that's happened with Lance and Giovanni, the King yelling at the High Priest in public wouldn't exactly earn her any friends in Kanto.</p><p>"I'm afraid I don't have any tea," Oak says, mildly.  He doesn't have enough chairs for us all to sit down, either, but I don't plan on taking a seat anyway.</p><p>"I don't give a shit about tea.  Jake came here.  You knew him.  You supported him as he became the 'Common King.'  And you pretended like you didn't know anything about someone coming from another world."</p><p>"Ah.  So you know, now."</p><p>"And the only reason we know you knew is because our friend died to get us that information!" Carlei snaps.  The floorboards of Oak's house are beginning to blacken under her feet.</p><p>I don't know if it's Carlei's anger, her lashing out against someone she'd always treated with such great respect, or if it's what she says, that surprises Oak more.  "I..."  He trails off for a few moments.  And then, ever so awkwardly, he kneels down to us.  "I am so sorry."</p><p>I wish I couldn't feel his aura, feel the pain he's feeling as he hears us speak.  It would be so much easier to be angry with him, to hate him, if I didn't know how sorry he felt.</p><p>Even so, neither of us can forgive enough to tell him to get up.  "Why didn't you tell us?" Carlei asks, more quietly.</p><p>"Because I couldn't," Oak answers.  "And I don't mean that I'd sworn an oath to keep his secret - I physically couldn't.  Couldn't tell you directly, write it down...even hint at it.  No-one could, not until you deduced it for yourself."</p><p>"Why not?"</p><p>"Because Arceus has decreed it be so," he says, simply.  "People like you, who come from the other world - or perhaps it's multiple other worlds, I don't know in truth - you are called here by the Divines, just as I told you when we first met.  But your purpose, your destiny...the Great Father forbids any to interfere.  And his word is not mere commandment nor law, but the fabric of all the worlds."</p><p>"Wait, so there are more than just me and Jake?"</p><p>"Not presently.  But in centuries past, yes.  There have been near two dozen, and not all in Tojo."  Oak gets back to his feet - Carlei reaches out to offer him a hand up, but he waves her off.  "Whenever this world desperately needs a hero with strength beyond that of any Blessed."</p><p>So all the ancient heroes I've been researching all this time...they were all like me and Jake, snatched from their own lives.</p><p>I wonder how many of the rest of them grew to love this world more than their own world, like me.</p><p>"So..." I hesitate.  I don't know what I'd do if I don't like the answer to my next question.  "Where is Jake?  What happened to him after he overthrew Giovanni?"</p><p>"I don't know."  Oak gives a simple shrug.  "He stayed in Kanto for a time, trying to help the kingdom recover.  But, eventually, he followed the wishes of the Divines that I'd conveyed to him, to fulfil his destiny.  I never saw him again.  As far as I know, nobody has.  But that night, the connection between his real name and the legacy of the Common King was severed, save for those few people who knew him well and those of the Faith who were gifted with the retention of our true memories.  Only the Great Father could achieve such a feat."</p><p>"So...what, Arceus just fucking wiped him out of existence?"  The house creaks as my emotions whirl wildly, and my hand finds Carlei's and squeezes tight, and I feel the warmth of her fiery aura flowing up my arm, helping to keep me calm, at least a little.</p><p>"I don't think so," Oak replies.  "If he had wished that, it would have been just as trivial to erase him entirely, rather than leaving him a well-known hero."</p><p>"Then why?  Why did Jake just vanish after that?"  I know Oak doesn't have the answers, but that doesn't stop me asking.  "What the fuck did you tell him to do?"</p><p>"The same thing it is my duty to ask you to do."  I take a step back in surprise as Oak meets my gaze.  "To fulfil your destiny as a Chosen of the Great Father, atop the peak of the holy mountain Shirogane."</p><p>I've heard of Shirogane, of course.  It's the tallest mountain in Tojo, and a site of immense holy significance, to the extent that the entire area around it is guarded by the Faith, and only accessible to monks who've undergone rites of purification.  And supposedly -</p><p>"No-one can climb the mountain!" Carlei snaps.  "The mightiest Blessed alive couldn't so much as set one foot on its slope without the chill slaying them.  Is the purpose of Ethan's destiny just to die for the Divines, after all this?!"  She moves closer to me, leaning against me, gripping my hand in both of hers.</p><p>"Jacob climbed it," Oak replies.  "I watched him tread the path up the mountain.  As I said, the Chosen of Arceus have strength beyond any Blessed.  Ethan will be able to do the same."</p><p>"Yeah, and you never saw Jake come down again, did you?" I point out.  But despite my words...I don't think the Divines would tell me to do something blatantly suicidal.  That's way too direct for their bullshit.</p><p>And besides...this is my only chance of finding out what happened to Jake.  Of finally finding the truth, after so long.  Even if it's only for me, and it doesn't help let our parents, or his friends back home, get some closure...I still have to know.</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We have to wait a week for Oak to arrange for us to be allowed access to Shirogane.  To be honest, I'm surprised we're allowed to be there at all, given how holy and sacred it is.  I was expecting to have to sneak in in the depths of night or something.  But I guess that's just more proof that the Divines are still manipulating things.</p><p>That week gives us the chance to let the others know what we're doing.  I was worried what Amphy was going to say, that he might blame me for Jasmine's death.  But he doesn't.  "Find the truth about your powers," he tells me, simply.  "Find your happiness, at least.  Don't let her death be in vain."</p><p>I don't even know if he's talking about Jasmine or Lyra.</p><p>Eventually, though, the time comes for us to head east towards the massive mountain that can be seen almost anywhere in Kanto.  We arrive in the late afternoon, and the armoured, armed monks - the first time I've ever seen those of the Faith carry weapons, aside from the Paladins' conjured weapons of their Blessing - let us through the massive, marble doors that are the only way into the holy site.</p><p>It could well be a city all its own, despite the fact that there must be barely a hundred monks living there, each of them having small homes with massive stretches of empty land for them to farm, or meditate, or do whatever else it is that they're supposed to do to grow closer to the Divines.</p><p>We don't see most of the monks - in fact, we only see three, plus the High Priest.  The rest all shut themselves away for the half-day we're there to avoid their enlightenment being disrupted by impure outsiders.</p><p>They lead us to the Temple in the monastery grounds, to a large, sealed cupboard in the centre, where other Temples have had trees or statuaries.  "When Lady Amale came here, centuries ago," the head monk explains to us, "to face her own destiny, she carved out a piece of the mountain's base, as a trial for those who would follow her, and a way to save the lives of those who would believe themselves worthy to set foot upon the mountain when they are not."  He very carefully doesn't look at Carlei.</p><p><i>&lt;Let him posture,&gt;</i> she projects to me, scornfully.</p><p>The three monks produce keys and unlock the three successive locks sealing what, to a casual glance, looks like nothing more than a lump of dirt.  But I can feel the power radiating from it, and it brings with it a cold wind that has the monks shivering and backing away.</p><p>"Should you not be worthy, touching the fragment will still wound you dearly," the head monk continues, "but it will not take your life."</p><p>They don't bring the mountain shard out to test us, forcing us to reach into the sealed locker instead.  I go first, closing my eyes, reaching out to grasp...what feels like nothing more than a lump of mud.</p><p>"You have been found worthy," the monks pronounce.</p><p>I pull the shard out from its container, and a cold gale whips up around me like a localised storm that I hardly even notice.  I hold the shard out to Carlei, and she reaches out and accepts it without even the slightest hesitation.  She flinches slightly as she touches it, but it's as harmless to her as it was to me.</p><p>The monks are so surprised they don't even manage to do their normal creepy 'speaking in unison' thing.  I'm half tempted to offer them the shard, just to see their reaction, but I don't.  Their shock that Carlei can touch the shard is satisfying enough.</p><p>There's a small house, closer to the mountain than any of the monks' residences, which is for our use.  It's bigger than any of the others, better-furnished, and once we've bathed and dressed in the Temple (in a brand-new set of heraldry that they'd somehow procured in advance, in the mysterious ways they always manage to do), the monks check that we have everything we want before leaving us alone.  They don't <i>actually</i> lock us in, but they politely request that we don't leave the building until the next morning, when our ascent up the mountain begins, and promise to drop dinner by.</p><p>Which is fine with us.  We just curl up together in one of the plush chairs and relax in each other's presence for what's left of the day.  The chance to just be alone like this, without having to worry about whether something might require our attention as the King and Queen of Joto - and now Kanto too - is something we haven't had in months.</p><p>We don't really talk about much until we start getting ready for bed.  Whoever designed the house obviously never expected it to be occupied by two people at once, because there's just one single bed, but it's not much different to the beds at the Temples and we always managed to cope with those.</p><p>"Are you sure you want to do this?" Carlei asks me, quietly, once we're nestled together.  "What if...what if it turns out that Jake really is dead?"</p><p>I sigh.  "At least I'd know, then.  Honestly, I'm more worried about this 'destiny' thing at this point.  All the ancient heroes whose stories I've read...a lot of them just disappear when they go and 'face their destiny' or whatever, just like Jake did.  But I know they don't just return us to our own world, because Jake never came back."</p><p>Carlei kisses me, her beautiful eyes almost entirely filling my vision.  "You'll be okay," she whispers, when we part.  "You've taken on everything anyone's thrown at you and won.  You'll beat the Divines too."  She sighs, holding out one hand away from the duvet and igniting a small flame.</p><p>"What is it?"</p><p>"When I touched that shard...it didn't hurt, but it was cold."  She snuffs out the fire and slips her arm around me again.  "This will probably sound ridiculous to you, but...I haven't felt anything cold since I was a child.  My fire has always kept me warm.  But the power of the mountain..."  She shivers slightly, presses closer to me.  I twine one hand through her hair, holding her close.  "I wouldn't want to be alone up there.  I just...I hope you don't have to leave."</p><p>I kiss her back.  "I won't."  She closes her eyes and tucks her head into the crook of my arm, but I nudge her chin so she looks up at me.  "There's nothing they can do that will make me leave you.  Even if it means I don't get to find out what happened to Jake...you're more important than anything in the world to me," I whisper, quietly.  "I'll never leave you."</p><p>"And I'll never leave you," she murmurs back, snuggling against me as we drift into a peaceful sleep.</p>
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<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Our ascent up Shirogane begins the next day, watched by the three monks and the High Priest.  We still have a little trepidation when we first step onto the slopes of the mountain, but the cold wind is more of an annoyance than a real danger.</p><p>It only takes us half an hour before we can't see the monastery any more, the whirling snow and wind hiding the ground beneath.</p><p>Nothing grows on the mountain.  We don't see so much as a blade of grass or a single ant.  We have our own food (supplied by the monks), though nothing else beyond our heraldry; the trusty tents we'd been using since we'd escaped the palace together would have been torn apart by the wind in seconds.</p><p>But there are enough caves and crevices - some natural, some that look like they've been ripped out of the stone bare-handed - that we can find shelter for a few minutes of rest when we get tired battling the storm, and a surprising warmth when we get below the surface anything more than a couple of feet.</p><p>The journey's expected to take us five days.  I don't know how the hell they know that when supposedly no-one's ever climbed the mountain and come down again, but it's supposedly written in the monastery's mysterious records.  On the second day, we discover where the warmth is coming from.</p><p>There's a definite path up the mountain, despite the lack of travel, and in the absence of a better direction to go, we've been following it.  It leads into the mountain proper, into a tunnel that would be pitch dark but for my lights and Carlei's fire - until it isn't.</p><p>We feel the heat intensify before we see the warm, red light, and it gets hotter and hotter as we get closer until it must be just as hot as the Blackthorn throne room.  And just like the throne room, we discover the source to be a pool of lava in one corner of a large, open cavern.</p><p>Carlei laughs, delightedly, stretching out her arms and doing a little twirl, flames flickering from her fingers.  I might have been technically more vulnerable to ice <i>magic</i> due to my Aspect (though being able to share Carlei's fire magic makes it a lot easier for me to handle than most Air Aspects), but I know the bitter cold has been affecting her much more than me.</p><p>"I guess we're stopping here for the night, then?" I tease her.  It's pretty early, but I'm just as happy to have a more relaxed day, and I doubt we're going to find a place like this again.</p><p>"I'm sure we can think of something to occupy ourselves," Carlei retorts, smirking.</p><p>Thanks to Carlei's fire, we've been eating hot meals each day anyway, but there's definitely a difference between huddling together in a crevice to shelter from the blizzard and almost burning our dinners over the lava pit, and it somehow makes this whole thing seem more achievable.</p><p>"Hey, look at this," Carlei says, quietly, while we're packing up our backpacks in readiness to move on the next morning.</p><p>Near the lava pit, etched into the wall, are names - six of them.  Some look like they've been hacked into the stone with a blade, others have clearly just used a finger or thumb, cracking the stone with inhuman strength.  They're going around the lava pit, and my breath catches in my throat as I see the last one, looking like it was burned into the rock with a laser.  <i>Jacob John Hall</i>.</p><p>"He really was here."  I hadn't doubted it, but to see his full name written out like that makes it so much more...real.</p><p>Carlei puts an arm around me, resting her head on my shoulder.  "Just a couple more days," she murmurs, softly.  "Then we'll know."  Impulsively, I flick one of my lights out towards the rock, moulding it into a thin blade, and trace a few swift lines.  "E plus C?" Carlei reads out.</p><p>I can't help but chuckle.  "Ethan and Carlei."  I enclose our initials in a traced heart.  It's silly and childish, but at the same time...just putting our names up there would feel strange.  Like it wouldn't convey what's really important.</p><p>We set off the next day, refreshed by the night in the warmth.  And we need it, because the lava was obviously the main source of the heat, and the cavern was as high as it went.  The higher we go, the colder it gets, the blizzard becoming stronger, the mountain more hostile.</p><p>And yet...if anything, the climb gets <i>easier</i>.</p><p>It's as though we're drawing power from the sky, and the closer we get, the stronger we become.  The gale-force winds are nothing more than a cool breeze, the ground cracks with every step we take, and we can carve fingerholds in the rock without even the slightest effort.  Boulders I could never have even nudged with my powers become as easy as pebbles to move, and Carlei's flames become hot enough to melt the frozen rock into lava that we can pass our hands through without feeling the heat, and turn the blizzard into a sauna.  Our powers ebb and flow between us as we need them so freely that it's hard to even distinguish the two separate powers any more.</p><p>By the last day, the formidable, lethal ascent of Shirogane has become a game, chasing each other around the mountain and play-fighting with enough force to cause an avalanche that we stop with the barest thought before it threatens the monastery far below.</p><p>Eventually, though, we arrive at the summit.</p><p>Jake stands waiting to greet us.</p>
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<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The blizzard is gone, up here, and the air as fresh and warm as it was in the monastery.  And for the first time in three years, I see Jake - he's wearing what must be his heraldry, a golden cloak that tapers off sharply like it's been cut, with a helmet with two large rubies set into the sides and long, blue streamers flowing from it in the soft breeze.</p><p>Except...it isn't him.</p><p>Even if three years might have passed, I know my own brother.  This Jake is too...perfect, a little too tall, more muscular, with flawless features.  It's like someone heard a description of him and followed it to the letter, without adding any dimples or asymmetries that real people would possess.</p><p>Not-Jake raises an eyebrow.  "I was expecting you to come alone."</p><p>"Sorry to disappoint.  Who the fuck are you?  Because you're not my brother."  Carlei looks at me, surprised. </p><p>"You're half right," the person (?) replies.  "I am a shard of the Great Father, nurtured by Jacob's soul before attaining my true power.  As a part of him, I have his memories, and at least the memories of his emotions if not the feelings themselves.  But...yes, I'm not him.  To humans, my name is Jirachi."</p><p>"The Divine who ascended three years ago," Carlei murmurs, softly.  "The lord of hope."  She half thinks of bowing, then changes her mind.  Jirachi doesn't seem to care.</p><p>I can feel <b><i>presences</i></b> observing us.  If I focus, I can pick out the ones that I've met before, as I'd travelled across Tojo.  When last I'd encountered them, they'd felt...overwhelming, like pure forces of nature that could have obliterated me in the blink of an eye.  But yet now - though their power is still immense, far beyond mine and Carlei's - they feel more...natural.</p><p>"So we're here.  What did you want?  What the fuck is this destiny you forced on me?"</p><p>"You deserve an explanation," Jirachi nods.  "As you may well have realised, you were brought here to return peace and balance to Tojo.  Something that Jacob had failed to completely accomplish.  You, however, succeeded."</p><p>I grit my teeth.  I was mad at Jake for up and leaving, but that doesn't mean I'm going to like this creepy god-duplicate of him belittling what he did - or pretending like Carlei had had no part in it at all.  "Yeah, because you sacrificed people I cared about to make sure of it," I retort.</p><p>Jirachi's expression doesn't change the slightest bit.  "Evard should not have told you what your destiny was," they remark.  "In any case, we didn't pick and choose people to die.  We can't interact with the mortal world - at least, not outside of specific circumstances.  And as you no doubt realise from your own experiences, our intrusions are not subtle ones.  Your destiny was simply never to lose.  How that manifested was far beyond our abilities to change."</p><p>"Yeah?  And if you'd known this magic destiny of yours was going to kill your Blessed Warriors, would you have done anything different?"</p><p>"It was the Great Father who Chose you, Ethan.  Your destiny was a part of his Blessing, and his comprehension reaches far beyond the lives of just a few mortals.  Even to comprehend the existence of a <i>thousand</i> mortals would be a...struggle."</p><p>And yet the Great Father managed to notice me enough to whisk me to another world.  I don't bother pointing it out.  Jirachi obviously doesn't plan on accepting any kind of responsibility.</p><p>"Where is Jake?" I ask.</p><p>"That I won't tell you," they reply, coolly.  "But that does, conveniently, bring me to the next comment I wished to make.  It is the Great Father's desire to repay those we bring to this world for their work, with...a wager, I suppose you could call it."</p><p>"You're telling me we came all the way up here for a fucking bet?"</p><p>Jirachi flashes me a smile of perfect teeth.  "Call it a challenge, then.  A duel, between you and me.  Should you win, the Great Father shall grant you a boon.  Near anything is within his power."</p><p>"And if we lose?" Carlei asks.</p><p>"Should Ethan lose, then the boon shall not be his.  It is as simple as that."</p><p>"And how the fuck are we meant to beat a fucking <i>god</i>?" I ask.</p><p>Jirachi chuckles.  "This place is special.  Here, we can take on mortal forms - avatars, you could call them, constraining our powers in the process.  The offer is a genuine one, not some trick.  And to answer your original question, Jacob was made the same offer.  He accepted, and duelled Rayquaza's avatar.  He won.  And it was his desire that he and his beloved could live peacefully, away from the incessant fame and publicity.  The Great Father granted his wish.  That is why none know the name of the Common King.  To this day, Jacob and his husband live peacefully in a small village in Kanto.  That is as much as I will tell you."</p><p>I sigh in relief.  Jirachi might still be manipulating things, but I don't think they'd lie to me outright, so that means Jake really is okay.  Happy, even, maybe, in a way he never could've been back home.</p><p>And knowing he went through the same shit as me makes this feel a little more doable.</p><p>"If we duel you, is that the end of this destiny bullshit?  We can just live peacefully?  Or do I have to use this 'boon' for that?"</p><p>"Your destiny is near its close," they answer.  "Win or lose, it will be over."</p><p>I wish I could believe them.  Believe that after everything, the final solution is as straightforward as a duel, no matter how tough it could be.</p><p>But I don't.</p><p>Jirachi raises a hand, and an orb of water appears, swirling wildly.  "Have you made your decision, Ethan?"</p><p>It's the water that gives it away.  I might be vulnerable to some Water magic, but not all - and ever since I started sharing Carlei's fire, what Water magic would once have been a threat to me thanks to my Aspect isn't dangerous to me any more.  <i>Carlei's</i> the one who's vulnerable to this kind of magic.</p><p>And I have no doubt that Jirachi knows that.</p><p>"You know what?  Fuck you."</p><p>Jirachi blinks, surprised.</p><p>"Because I get it now.  You knew Carlei would be with me the whole time.  You were gonna target her to try to trick me into doing whatever the fuck my big bad 'destiny' is supposed to be.  You shouldn't have had Oak and Emrys lay it on so thick with the whole 'you don't need power to protect others' thing, but honestly?  Treating someone like they don't exist the whole time and then making a point of targeting them is a pretty good giveaway.  And the real Jake would never do anything like that."</p><p>I step back, slip my hand into Carlei's.  I can feel the anger roiling in her to match mine.  "So to the Divines, in their grand scheme, I'm nothing but a weak target in desperate need of my love's protection?" she asks.  A white-hot flame erupts in her other hand.</p><p>I share a look with her, and then we speak as one.</p><p>
  <b>"We're done being pawns in your game."</b>
</p>
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<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I feel the <b><i>presences </i></b>of the Divines roil.  But it's Jirachi who reacts far more strongly.  The orb of water surges, whirling in their hand until it's as big as the mountain peak.  "YOU DARE DEFY US!?" they roar, an inhuman fury in their tone, hurling the orb of water, and it erupts into a tidal wave that could tear down the whole mountain if it was given the chance, any semblance of a fair fight abandoned.</p><p>There's a single moment of pure <i>unity</i>.  Our merged powers whirl and blaze in our anger at Jirachi, at the Divines, at the scheme that they've been toying with us with ever since I arrived here, and it's hard to tell which thoughts are mine and which are Carlei's and neither of us care.</p><p>
  <b>
    <i>AWAKEN, SCION OF MINE.</i>
  </b>
</p><p>Then the moment is gone, and someone steps forwards, standing between us and Jirachi.  "You're acting just like Lance," the newcomer comments, burning wings unfurling to shield us, evaporating the wave into steam with a sound like a bomb going off.  They don't even flinch.  "We could even be forgiven for wondering what makes you so much better than him.  Or whether we should treat you just the <b><i>same</i></b>."  And they raise a hand and unleash a hail of red spears that tear into Jirachi, ripping them into shreds of golden smoke in the blink of an eye.</p><p>A moment later, Jirachi reforms, looking <i>royally</i> pissed.</p><p><b>"Enough."</b>  The voice comes from elsewhere, and I recognise Ho-oh's aura.  <b>"You have tested our new sibling's strength.  Be satisfied."</b></p><p>We don't <i>hear</i> so much as <i>feel</i> the wordless assent of the other presences.  Jirachi mutters angrily, but vanishes.</p><p>The new figure turns to face us, and we see with a jolt that they're almost a hybrid of the two of us - Carlei's height, my more bulky build, hair cut short like mine but in the charcoal black Carlei used to dye hers, and sapphire blue eyes that come from a painful memory of one of our dearest friends.  Their wings furl back slightly, and I realise that they aren't just burning like mine, but made of pure fire, red-gold and hotter than the lava pool in the mountain below.</p><p>"Sorry about them," they say, in a voice the same pitch as mine, with Carlei's accent.  "A side effect our sibling forgot to mention about taking human forms is the lack of...judgement, and clarity, that our state as shards of the Great Father's will grants us."  The figure gives us a short half-bow.  "And now we can speak without having to dance around the truth of your destiny, I can explain the truth of our nature."</p><p>"You're one of the Divines," I say, flatly.</p><p>They nod.  "It's not strictly accurate to consider us as separate entities.  Think of your own world, how the Earth is formed of multiple tectonic plates.  We are akin to the plates, the Great Father the whole world.  But yes, simplistically.  Each of us was created from a shard of the Great Father's will, a specific vision of his dream for humanity.  From merging with the soul of a mortal, that pure vision is tempered by human will and emotion, following a destiny befitting the Great Father's intent, and eventually becomes something that could allow humans to live, taking its place among the Divines.  The entity you just met was the coalesced form of the shard of hope, of humanity's wishes for the future.  In a similar way, I represent the Great Father's vision of humanity's triumph, of victory bestowed unto the righteous."</p><p>I glare at them.  "It's your fault I've been fighting against Chaos this whole time."</p><p>"Chaos and the Divine are two sides of the same coin - both fragments of the Great Father's power, both responding to the strong will and emotion of humanity.  The difference is merely that Chaos comes of its own accord." </p><p>"Call it what you want," I interrupt.  "What if I'd hurt someone because of you...possessing me, or whatever the fuck this is?"</p><p>"The Great Father's choices are flawless," they say, with sudden harshness, before continuing more gently.  "Had there been a risk of you allowing the Great Father's power to leave your control, or revelling in the power it grants you and using it for cruelty, you would never have been Chosen."  But for all their defensiveness, even they don't sound certain about that, and I can't help but remember what Jirachi had said just a few minutes earlier.  Arceus can't even see single mortals.  How would he know what I might have done to one?</p><p>Carlei lets go of my hand, and steps forwards, looking past the new Divine and to the presences beyond.  "So what...what was your plan for Ethan?"</p><p>"It is only at the moment that one accepts that their life has ended that the fragment of the Great Father's power can realise itself.  As you surmised, we knew that you would connive some way to accompany Ethan up here.  The intent was to target you."  The fire-winged figure nods at Carlei.  "To put Ethan in a position where the only way to save you - so he believed - was to sacrifice himself, the intent behind that sacrifice resulting in my ascension.  And your survival," they add, off-handedly.</p><p>And if I really had thought the only way to save Carlei was to sacrifice myself, I would have done it.  Without any hesitation.</p><p>"That, at least, was the theory.  It seems, given the evidence, that some re-evaluation of our nature is needed."  They sound almost smug.  I have to admit I can't help but feel a little of the same smugness.  Even if it's only in such a small way, to have surprised the Divines and damn near beaten them at their own game, after all this, feels <i>good</i>.  Maybe that's why this new Divine is feeling smug too.</p><p>"So now what?" I ask.  "With you...existing...are we done?"</p><p>"Did you forget the wager already?  The challenge was won, albeit unconventionally.  You have the right to request a boon of the Great Father."</p><p>I frown.  When I'd first heard that I could request a favour from the most powerful being in the world, there had been so many ideas rolling through my head.  But now, after all this?  There's only one thing I can really wish for.  "Okay.  Then here's our request."</p><p>I share a glance with Carlei, knowing that we both have exactly the same idea.</p><p>"You quit with this bullshit."</p><p>I feel the disembodied presences of the other Divines grow harsh and angry, but I don't stop.</p><p>"No more abducting people from other worlds and never letting them go back home.  No more playing with people's lives like they're pieces in a game.  If you really need to keep creating more Divine beings with these shards of visions or whatever, then pick people from <i>this</i> world and just let them live their own lives without siccing the priests on them to steer them down the right path.  If you're supposed to be getting this pure human will and emotion, I'd say you ought to get a better result if you aren't interfering every five minutes anyway."</p><p>There's a thunderclap that knocks us off our feet, slamming us into the mountain peak hard enough to leave a crater where we land.  Even the Divine is forced to their knees by the blast, though they don't stand up, laughing delightedly.  "The Great Father himself responds to you!"</p><p>The raw power of that blast was beyond the tidal wave, beyond the spears...and that was just Arceus's <i>voice</i>, and then his gaze falls on us and we couldn't do anything but kneel even if we wanted to as the weight of his focus almost crushes us into the stone, heavier than the mountain itself.  "What...what did the Great Father say?" Carlei manages to say.</p><p>"What should we be doin' if our chosen host tries to run from their destiny?"  Mercifully, Arceus lifts his gaze from us as the old caretaker of the Kachu shrine materialises in a whirl of gossamer light - except now his grey hair is white as snow, and kept out of his eyes with a helmet with two deep blue horns.  "Nice to see you again, lad.  As you can probably guess, usually we try to nudge our hosts back on course if they're just havin' a momentary blip, or let 'em go back home if they really hate the path their life takes in this world.  We've only had to do the latter once, mind."</p><p>I'm glad that the old man - Lawrence, I remember his name was...although I guess Lugia is his real name - rambles on a bit. It gives us a chance to recover from the sheer power of Arceus's focus on us. Maybe that's why he appeared for us. At least <i>some</i> of the Divines have some shred of kindness and humanity left in there somewhere.</p><p>And I can't entirely believe that this is actually my decision.  I don't know whether to be more surprised that Arceus doesn't just dismiss my request or that a being so monumentally powerful is <i>listening</i> to us - not just absently, but actively considering the ramifications of what I'm asking him to do.  "What you did for me was put me in contact with someone I could talk to, someone <i>real</i>."  And it's probably the only interference the Divines have ever done for me that I'm actually, genuinely thankful for.  "If you really have to interfere...do that."</p><p>I feel things <i>shift</i> - not so much around me, but around the presences of the Divines, as Arceus's agreement changes them, changes these monumental forces, as effortlessly as breathing.</p><p>"So...what happens now?"</p><p>"It's as Jirachi told you.  Your destiny has reached its end."  The new Divine smiles at us, far more genuinely than the perfect smirk of Jirachi.  "Your life is truly your own now."</p><p>Then they - and Lugia - vanish, and the mountain peak is again nothing more than rock and snow.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We fly back to the palace in Joto together, a dozen times as fast as the airships - and yet not faster than the mysterious power of the Faith, because by the time we arrive, the Temple bells are ringing jubilantly to announce the ascension of the new Divine Victini.  Somehow everyone else seems to know the Faith have been predicting it years in advance.  Even we do, if we let the Divines' time-twisting work on us.</p><p>No-one bats an eyelid when Carlei decides a great festival should be held across the kingdom.  As far as anyone else knows, it's a celebration of Victini's ascension to godhood.  Only we know it's to celebrate our freedom from the Divine shackles of destiny.</p><p>We retain a lot of the power our climb up Shirogane had given us, the strength of the Divines' proximity to the mountain's peak and our lingering connection to Arceus's power.  Either one of us can fight a dozen of the greatest warriors in Tojo evenly.  Together, nothing can stop us.</p><p>It's an alluring, addictive feeling of superiority, and it's only each other's presence that keeps us grounded in reality.  That keeps us from becoming like Lance or Giovanni.  Or Jirachi and the other Divines.</p><p>The positions of Viceroy of Joto and Kanto are created, and given to Amphy and Silver respectively.  It's not perfect - it's too new to be immediately accepted, if nothing else - but the equality between Kanto and Joto goes a long way to satisfying the nobles of Kanto.  And an unexpected, but definitely not unwelcome, bonus, is the fact that it removes some of the stress and workload of rulership from Carlei, giving us more time to ourselves.</p><p>We discover a small island that's probably never seen human life before, away from any of the shipping lanes.  Technically it's within the borders of Tojo, and since it's of no practical use for anyone, we decide to make it a little retreat for ourselves.</p><p>Time passes.</p><p>Our little island acquires a wooden shack (on the sixth attempt; neither of us exactly have much experience with woodwork).  Goban and Silver's wedding is celebrated widely, in both Kanto and Joto, and we're more than happy to let them enjoy the spotlight.  Silas becomes a knight of the realm in his own right, while Shukie returns to Tanba, becoming a teacher to other young Blessed who'd been Chosen by the Grand Shrine.  Zane fades back into obscurity, and I can't help but envy him a little.  And then there are Magni and Deanne, and I start to hear rumours about Clair considering passing on the title of heir to House Blackthorn onto Deanne so she can spend more time with Gabrialla, and then they adopt a little girl who they name Merry and she becomes the centre of their world.</p><p>Carlei and I celebrate our first anniversary as husband and wife alone on the island, away from our titles and duties, and wish we could stay there forever.</p><p>Never again do I find one of the Faith mysteriously arriving out of nowhere to give me cryptic 'advice.'  Their absence is an immense weight off my shoulders.</p><p>I never see Jake.  I never try to find him.</p><p>I wish I could've spoken to him, even if just the once - I believe Jirachi when they said he was happy, but it isn't the same as him saying it himself.  But if he wanted privacy so much more than anything else, to the point that he asked the creator of the world for it, I don't want to betray that just to satisfy myself.</p><p>But one day I get a letter, via Evena, with just a single line in a handwriting I know almost as well as Carlei's.</p><p>
  <i>Thank you for doing what I couldn't.</i>
</p><p>I travel to the Grand Shrine of Tanba, and pray to Cressalia that our parents could feel reassured that we're both okay, reaching as far as I can with my powers, trying to find the barrier between the worlds.  I don't know if my mumblings reach them.  I don't realise how much I'd missed them this whole time until I feel Carlei's gentle, warm hands brushing tears away from my eyes, but she tells me they heard me, and in the wild, heady power of the Grand Shrine, I believe her.</p><p>Time keeps ticking by.  The kingdoms settle into the first peace they'd felt in near half a decade, and Carlei is credited almost entirely for the fact.  She deserves every bit of praise they give her, no matter how much she protests.</p><p>With things calming down, Carlei and I get more time together, and yet somehow the hours with each other seem like snatched seconds that leave us desperate for more time.  And then things change, and we find ourselves drawn closer still.</p><p>Just a few years ago, I'd never have imagined any of this was possible.  And if I'd been told that I could've been a King, and had immense powers beyond almost anyone else, I'd have thought it would have been the best life ever, and I'd have given up anything for the title and the power.  But now I know the truth.</p><p>Being together with Carlei, and our newborn son, is more important to me than anything in the world.</p>
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